The Old Bank Building
1923 25¢ bill
Every small Saskatchewan town has one. The Old Bank Building. The Old Bank building doesn't need a sign or an address. Even outsiders can find it if you say "It is in the old bank building, you can't miss it." It was probably the fanciest building in town back when the roads were mud and weeds. The first building made of brick baked in Southern Alberta and trimmed with Tyndall stone brought in by rail from Manitoba when people shopped for their homes in the Eaton's catalogue. The only taller building would be the ubiquitous elevator with the name of the town emblazoned. Often even the wood for the floor had to be brought in. They were big adverts for the banks saying "See? We are so wealthy we brought in everything in from other provinces just to build this magnificent building in your itty bitty town, we are so solid we built with stone and brick, we can be trusted with your money!"
Houses from Eaton's Catalogue
This particular Old Bank Building was built about 1919 by the Merchants' Bank of Canada. The Merchants' Bank was founded in 1861 and had banks from coast to coast. Their buildings are remarkably similar right across the country but this one has a few quirks that make it an Old Bank Building in Saskatchewan. Tyndall stone lintels and sills are so Saskatchewanian it is the equivalent of plaid flannel for commercial buildings. Banking a century ago is rather different than today. Then the Merchants' Bank of Canada actually printed their own currency. Thank goodness that is one trick the banks don't have anymore.
$10 in Merchants' Bank of Canada Currency
Just a few years later the Merchants' Bank merged with the Bank of Montreal and the sign changed for the first time. This bank closed in 1933, only a few years into the Great Depression. Running a bank was no longer a license to print money.
According to former citizens of Perdue, the building alternated standing empty and being occupied. At one point a doctor, another time a home, and now...well, it has no sign, it has no address on the building but I am sure if I told you to just look for the old bank building you would find the used bookstore that outdoes the library in terms of quantity of books. The elderly owner, Ralph, has been going after books like we go after caches and the result is the Old Bank Building full of books, 2 semi trailers still full of books, and an antique bus full of books. The shelves not only over flow, they spawned stacks that are now rivaling the trees the paper came from!
1 aisle of Crawford's Used Books
If you are interested in popping into see the interior of the old Bank Building, or if you think that photo is a Photoshopped trick, Ralph is open from 10AM-8PM, Monday-Saturday, closing for lunch from May until September. Inside Difficulty is 4 and Terrain is 4 so be warned.