Owatonna’s must-see bank At the corner of Broadway and Cedar streets in Owatonna is what some consider the most beautiful bank in the world. The old National Farmer’s Bank building is on Minnesota’s Register of Historic Places and attracts visitors from all over the planet to see the architectural design of Louis Sullivan, a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright who built a series of small Midwestern banks in the twilight of his career. The bank’s design was unlike anything seen before or since, resembling a jeweled strongbox
The National Farmers Bank building was constructed in 1908 and designed by architect Louis Sullivan. The historic building is now a Wells Fargo branch but remains on the Minnesota Register of Historic Places. bathed in color. The square structure features semi-circular archways, large stained glass insets and highly ornate ornamentation designed by George Elmslie. Though the bank is now a Wells Fargo branch, and suffered some
poor restoration efforts in the decades since its construction in 1908, much has been restored to its original luster.
Submitted photo
Lanesboro, population 750, hosts upward of 300 visitors each year for its annual Ibsen Festival, a tribute to the Norwegian playwright.
Lanesboro
See more in Fillmore If you think you’ve seen all county museums — you haven’t seen the one in Fillmore County. Located in Fountain — a tiny city of 400 people at the junction of Highway 52 and County Road 8, and right on the way to Lanesboro — the Fillmore County History Center has an impressive list of oddities and
curiosities not seen anywhere else. The mounted heads of a twoheaded calf raised by a local farmer? Check. A mastodon tooth estimated to be 100,000 years old? Check. A home-built flying machine called the Pietenpol Air Camper? Check.
A still-functioning, 5-inch-by-7inch padlock said to have been owned by the great Norwegian explorer Leif Ericson? Check. What else could you want? Regular museum hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays, and 1-4 p.m. on Sundays.
MANKATO MAGAZINE • April 2013 • 49