First National Bank

First National Bank. , Baker John Koel arrived in Alaska in 1901, bringing a sizable savings and keen business sense. He started out with his "OK Bakery" restaurant and rooming house and in 1911 built Alaska's first reinforced concrete building on his corner lot for investor, Miners and Merchants Bank., By the early 1920s, Ketchikan was booming and the M&M bankers decided to build their own new 3-story building across the street. Koel was so upset he chartered his own bank in retaliation: the First National Bank which opened in 1924. With a few changes in name and ownership, it continues to function as a leading bank to this day (now First Bank)., Ketchikan historian June Allen noted that it was Koel's later-in-life eccentricities which most people remembered. An avid movie buff, he went to the cinema every night, sat in the same seat, and frequently disrupted the show with loud laughter, even during sad scenes. On the 4th of July, he had part of Dock Street covered in sawdust and seeded it with coins. At a signal, he watched from his second story room as kids dove for coins, throwing more down once most had been found., John Koel was somewhat odd, but a much loved, respected and active figure during Ketchikan's formative years., [Photo captions, top to bottom, read] , . John Koel's OK Bakery (building with sloping roof) sits right next to his new bank building (to right) in 1911. The iconic Stedman Hotel is in the foreground (renovated in 2011)., . The First National Bank was on the corner of early Ketchikan's most important intersection: Main and Dock. The speakers platform was constructed there to honor the visit of President Warren G. Handing in 1923., . John Koel's OK Bakery in the early 1900 with the vacant lot next door where he built his First National Bank. Koel lived alone in one of the rooms upstairs until his death in 1941.