Description

In 1873 the newly formed First National Bank of Baraboo purchased the Sauk County Bank and renamed it, adding the new name to the cornice, and in 1880 the bank changed its name again to the Bank of Baraboo. In 1905, the bank underwent extensive renovations and expansion. The new interior and expansion to the south and west were designed by Alfred Clas of the Milwaukee architecture firm of Ferry and Clas, who was already known locally in Baraboo for the designs of the Jacob Van Orden House and Charles Ringling House. The expansion also served to integrate the façade of the bank with a consistent rusticated stone veneer, shallow pilasters, the use of Bedford limestone, and a neoclassical appearance. Jacob Van Orden, an influential employee of the bank who worked closely with the Ringling Brothers Circus and oversaw the 1905 remodeling, became president of the Bank of Baraboo in 1915.