Burr Oak Savings Bank

Burr Oak Savings Bank – also known as the Burr Oak Post Office – is an historic building located in Burr Oak, Iowa, United States. The free-standing, single-story, brick structure was built in 1910 in the Italianate style.^[2] Its primary decorative feature is a panel with corbeled brickwork in a dentil-like pattern, and the bracketed tin cornice above it.^[3] In 1931 it suffered a robbery, being the first robbery in Winneshiek County.^[4] That same year – as well as in 1941, 1955 and 1967 – the building underwent expansions. ^[5] After the bank closed, the building was used as a barber shop^[6] and the post office, which closed in 1981. In 2014 it became the Visitors Center for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum and Park.^[7] It is the only building that remains on Burr Oak's main street from a period of economic expansion in early 20th-century Iowa, based on agricultural production and land values.^[8] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.^[1]

Burr Oak Savings Bank
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Location	3608 236th Avenue Burr Oak, Iowa
Coordinates	43°27′29″N 91°51′55″W
Built	1910
Built by	McGee & Riceland
Architectural style	Italianate
NRHP reference No.	01000857[1]
Added to NRHP	August 8, 2001

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
2. "Burr Oak Savings Bank – Burr Oak, IA - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com". www.waymarking.com. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
3. "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form" (PDF). www.winneshiekcounty.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-10-12.
4. "First bank robbery in county history in Burr Oak". decorahnewspapers.com. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
5. "Buffalo Savings Bank". buffaloah.com. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
6. Jack, Zachary Michael (2016-12-28). Wish You Were Here: Love & Longing in an American Heartland. Truman State University Press. ISBN 978-1-61248-171-5.
7. Hotel, The Masters. "Welcome to The Masters Hotel Home of the ingalls family 1876-1877". The Masters Hotel. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
8. Marlys A. Svendsen. "Burr Oak Savings Bank". National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-07-09. with photos