Geo. D. Harter Bank

Geo. D. Harter Bank. A Walk with the President. , During the McKinley era, the Harter family helped to bring stability to banking in Canton. After the Farmer's Bank, failed in 1844, the town was without any bank until Isaac Harter and three local businessmen formed the Savings Deposit Bank ten years. Later Isaac Harter and his sons bought out the other partners and the institution became the Isaac, Harter and Sons Bank., By 1866, two sons, Georges and Michael, opened their own bank called the George D. Harter and Brother Bank. George married Elizabeth-Aultman in 1869 and after the death of her father, Cornelius Aultman, in 1884, George was elected his successor as president of the First National Bank., This existing building, constructed in 1922, can trace its Canton roots to the George D. Harter and Brother Bank, founded by William McKinley's contemporaries. The elegant exterior of this Renaissance revival style structure is dominated by a deeply recessed arch. The facade brings to mind the public buildings of the Romans., Inspiring inscriptions placed on the interior walls-have been taken from public utterances of President McKinley, including speeches espousing "sound money" which to McKinley meant a currency that was safely backed by gold.