Exchange National Bank Olean New York 1906 postcard

Exchange National Bank of Olean New York 1906 postcard

Interior of the Exchange National Bank of Olean New York

Home town banks were one of the centers of the local community.  They were built in an architectural style that spoke to solidity, security, stability, and permanence.  Your money is safe here! So the bank exterior shouted to an anxious depositor passing by.  But instability came by the stroke of the pen or, today, by the click of mouse.  No amount of marble could underpin that.