The Rich History of The Bank

Look down this view of Main Street's east side to where the horse and buggy is standing.  The two storey brick building in front of it with the round window at the top is Reston's first bank - a branch of the Bank of British North America.  Temporary accommodations  for a bank were secured in 1903 and this permanent impressive building was built about 1909.  The top rounded window reminds me of bank buildings in Rivers and Elkhorn so it may have been constructed using the same B. C. Mills kit as detailed in Christian Cassidy's blog here.  I'd be glad for any more details or pictures of this original bank.  

A fire in 1915 that destroyed the Reston Post Office among other businesses was a huge loss for the bank.  It was not the building lost to flames, but $5000 worth of bank bills that were in the Post Office. The Pinkerton Detectives (!) solved the case a year later after being hired by the insurance company. They discovered the bills did not burn in the fire but were taken to the home of the post office employee R. H. Howard the night of the fire for safekeeping and buried on what we know as the Walker farm, just east of Reston. The details of the case from this May 1916 clipping of the Reston Recorder make for interesting reading.  Fires were a huge danger in those day and in early 1916, several of the businesses in the postcard at the top of this page,  including the bank, were destroyed.  It started in a stable near the poolroom.  Bucket brigades from the cistern at the south end of Main Street were quickly organized but imagine throwing a bucket of water at a structure fire and expecting results.  Onlookers did have time to rescue most of the valuables out of the building like heavy pillars and storm windows, before it burnt.  An investigation into the fire was never able to pinpoint a cause but townspeople suspected a firebug was among them. 

 This clipping from the August 1916 Reston Recorder shows reconstruction got started promptly by Arthur Bushby (1879-1933).  Arthur was the brother of Randy's Grandma Boulton and had a hand in many buildings and homes in Reston in the teens and twenties. What a great sentence to say the "building will be an ornament to the town and a credit to the builder." It does make me wonder if the compliment was written by another sister Gertie - Gertrude Mary Bushby (1896 - 1929) who worked at the Reston Recorder and lived with Arthur and his wife Lou and their children during this time. Some relatives do have a tendency to gush like that.  😉

Bank of Montreal on building on the left where the car is parked in this street scene from around 1920's 

In 1918, the Bank of British North America became known as the Bank of Montreal. Mr. R. A. MacLaren continued as manager after the transition. The second floor was used for storage but the Trails Along the Pipestone history book (1981) does say Dr. Clark's wife had a business selling the latest hats to the ladies in town for a short time in 1927 before moving next door to a men's clothing store built for Art Morris where the playground on Main Street is today.  Living quarters were built on the second floor in the 1950's and extensive renovations were made below in the next few decades.  Early bank employees were mostly male but ladies began to be hired more readily, especially in the war years. 

     

Go Kart racers in front of the bank .  Maybe the 1940's by the skirt lengths?

The Bank of Montreal remained the only financial institution in town until the Virden Credit Union opened a branch in Reston in 1977.  In 2000, the opportunity arose for the Credit Union to purchase the assets of the Reston branch of the Bank of Montreal and the building was no longer needed.  Photographer Brian Sytnyk purchased the bank building in 2007 and continues to update the building including replacing the old with beautiful new windows this past summer. 

From Reston Museum