Barton, WI – There’s a goodwill effort to welcome a new neighbor to Barton. On the corner of N. Main Street and Barton Avenue is a local landmark. A large sign painted on the south wall of the old firehouse. Build, Boost, & Buy in Barton is designed to encourage people to solicit mom-and-pop businesses in the small community. But now that’s changed.
It was at dusk on a Friday evening when locksmith, veteran, and Barton boy Terry Vrana and his wingman Jim Quade hefted an aluminum ladder from the back of a pickup and perched it alongside the old Barton Firehouse.
Vrana, 78, slowly scaled the ladder, first with a level and later a white posterboard that had ‘ANK’ written in large black letters.
Vrana said, now that Barton is getting a new bank, he wanted to adjust the current Build, Boost, & Buy sign to reflect an era of history and change it back to Build, Boost, & Bank in Barton.
Barton State Bank was in operation on Barton Avenue in the late 1920’s. According to the Village of Barton history book written by Doc Driessel, the local bank declared bankruptcy following the stock market collapse and closed in 1930.
“The Bank was strained to the point where it closed its doors and eventually declared bankruptcy, which was the fate of so many others soon afterward.”
According to Driessel the “bank building was vacant for several years but later was used for other purposes” including a harness shop run by Joseph Kirsch in 1932, a tailoring and drycleaning establishment in 1941, the Ivo Chapstick Company run by Baltus Rolfs in 1945, and later it was home to the VFW Post 8658.
“The sign on the firehouse used to say bank, when we had a bank,” said Vrana. “That sign was removed in the 1930’s after the Barton Bank closed. I just thought it would be neat to put it back and welcome Newburg State Bank when it opens across the street.”
After working to adhere the posterboard and touch it up with paint, Vrana and Quade stepped back to review their work.
“We’ll see if they notice,” said Vrana referencing the bank across the street. “I’m curious because you drive by a million times a day… you don’t ever look at it…”
The sign isn’t the only gift. Vrana also made a plaque for the bank. “On the back I put ‘In God We Trust,’ of course, I signed my name and then I said a very warm welcome to the
new bank from all the businesses, friends, and neighbors of the Barton area. We’re glad you’re here.”
Vrana said he decided to alter the sign because, “I just thought it would be a fun thing to
do… because of the history of having it and that’s how they used to advertise for the bank.”
On a history note: Vrana is still trying to figure out how the first service station was located on Barton Avenue and Main Street by a government building, the firehouse.
“I don’t understand this part of it, this was the very first gas station in Barton and it’s attached to a government building or whoever built the fire department,” he said. “Maybe the government didn’t own it. The fire department must have been independent at
that time because this is the very first gas station in Barton and that was in the 1930’s when this picture was taken, so this must have been privately held. I don’t know; I’m just
speculating.”
Anyone with any more information is welcome to chime in the comments below or email judy@washingtoncountyinsider.com
