June 2025.
Louis Sullivan’s Farmers & Merchants Union Bank in Columbus, Wisconsin is his third “jewel box” bank that I’ve visited. It was a reasonable drive from my hometown over the summer, so I went up one day to document it and the surrounding town of Columbus. Robert Venturi discusses it at length in his book Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture, too, so it holds an interesting place within Postmodern discourse.
The Farmers & Merchants Union Bank is located at 159 West James Street in downtown Columbus, Wisconsin. It is bordered by Columbus City Hall to the north, James Street and various commercial buildings to the northeast, other Victorian-era buildings to the southeast, and Dickason Boulevard and the public library to the northwest.
History
Historic photo of the original bank building (left). (F&MUB)
The Farmers & Merchants Union Bank was founded in September 1861 as the “Union Bank” by John Wheeler, who opened a bank in Cook’s Building on James Street. In 1865, it moved across the street. After several changes in leadership and the demolition of the original Cook’s Building, John Wheeler’s grandson J. Russell Wheeler was the owner. In 1919, the bank was looking to construct a new building.
Wheeler originally planned for his new bank building to be in the Beaux-Arts style, but his wife had seen photos of Louis Sullivan’s Ohio and Minnesota banks and persuaded him to commission Sullivan as the architect. (Sidney’s People’s Federal Savings & Loan Association has a similar story with the conflict between classical and Sullivanesque design.) Unusual for this point in his career, Sullivan designed the entire building and its ornamentation, which was carved by his usual sculptor Kristian Schneider. Sullivan ultimately became friends with the Wheelers and would stay in their home when visiting to supervise construction. In The Complete Architecture of Adler & Sullivan, J. Russell Wheeler was quoted as saying "I remember that the building cost far more than I had planned. It was built by the day and I bought the material as the building progressed. I feared to mar the beauty by cutting out much..." Wheeler's only omissions from the final design were two terra-cotta lions inside and a skylight.
F&MUB was the last of Sullivan's “jewel boxes” when it was completed in 1920, and the one that first earned this series of banks that moniker. This is his final project that was a completed work of architecture--the only others finished before his death in 1924 were various unbuilt projects, a bank renovation in Michigan (demolished), and the Krause Music Store in Chicago, of which he designed only the facade.
Louis Sullivan’s bank as it was built. (F&MUB)
An addition spanning three bays was built onto the rear one-story projection of the Farmers & Merchants Union Bank in 1958 by Madison architects Law, Potter, & Nystrom, which was unusually harmonious with the original design. Sullivan’s ornament was replicated using plaster casts from the original building, which were used to carve recreations. Two years later, a drive-thru window was added, representing the growth of car culture in America at the time.
Newly completed drive-thru window. (F&MUB)
In 1972, the Farmers & Merchants Union Bank was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976. A second addition was built adjacent to the bank in 1979, which replaced the Tezlaff Drug Store. It had a shiny futuristic facade and clearly attempted to appear distinct from the original bank.
1979 addition to the bank. (Wisconsin Historical Society)
Between 1997 and 1998, the facade was restored, and more restoration work inside took place in 2013. The 1970s addition was demolished and replaced with a New Classical design in 2006.
It is very unusual for a building of this age to be taken care of so lovingly throughout its life and for it to maintain the same tenant. (Granted, the two are probably related.) F&MUB claims that it is only one of two jewel boxes to still be used as a bank today, but I don’t think that’s the case anymore. Regardless, the bank’s commitment to its historic home is commendable.
Photos
Like the other “jewel boxes” I’ve covered (Home Building Association Bank in Newark and People’s Federal Savings & Loan Association in Sidney), the Farmers & Merchants Union Bank is articulated in a similar manner. It is a simple brick rectangle that is emphasized by Sullivan’s ornament in carefully selected places:
The James Street facade is dominated by the stone panels in the center. The arch above is still prominent but appears secondary, different from PFS&LA’s larger arch.
This is a really great feature, and I can’t wait to dive into it in depth:
I always love a good arch. It is recessed twice, and the windows are stained-glass:
This sign is amazing. I love the marble(?) panels with carved golden letters, which contrast nicely with the gray stone surround:
Also notice the various ornamental flourishes surrounding it. The two piers are crowned with the classic lions holding shields:
Each corner is emblazoned with an exuberant medallion featuring dates, another common Sullivan detail. 1861 is the founding date of F&MUB:
1919, when this building was constructed:
God is in the details, though I’m sure Mies would have abhorred this ornamentation:
Sullivan has a weird relationship with Modernism in that he coined the phrase that led to a lot of the movement’s beliefs (“form ever follows function”), and he built proto-Modernist skyscrapers if you squint and don’t see the ornamentation. Architects respect his work even today, but much of his designs were squandered by cities during the urban renewal era.
Even the underside of the entrance portal is carved with detailed ornamentation:
This design is even on the small corner side of the sign area:
The parapet features an eagle in the center, with a carving above reading “FORWARD” (Wisconsin's motto):
The Dickason Boulevard facade in its entirety:
This side is much simpler. Ornamentation is confined to terra-cotta above the vaulted windows, atop the brick piers, and in two string courses below the windows and along the parapet:
The vaulted windows are stained-glass, and their recession in the wall is emphasized by the stepping bricks below:
This ornamentation is just fantastic.
These brick piers cap off the vaulted windows, and they are crowned with a pedestal and a Faberge egg-esque flourish:
The 2006 addition extends to this side, too:
For a town of Columbus’s size, I think this is a decent attempt to maintain the neighborhood vernacular. It doesn’t really respond to the Sullivan design and the massing is a little clunky, but that’s fine.
The rear is almost identical to the principal facade, minus some chimneys and projections:
I’m not sure what’s up with the status of the first 1950s addition that responded to the original building. I believe it was demolished in 2006, after glancing through historic photos. Therefore, this one-story area is from Sullivan’s design:
This is an interesting detail--Sullivanesque ornamentation and crimson brick vs. I-beam cornice and buff brick:
More highly detailed panels below:
It’s just insane to me how finely carved these little details are, and they’re everywhere. How did Louis Sullivan have the time to draw up individual, unique panels? He did reuse them, as seen here bordering the windows:
Pier detail:
Cool lion relief in the terra-cotta:
Robert Venturi praises the F&MUB in Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture, calling it “exceptional in our recent architecture.” Exploring his idea of the difficult whole, he writes: “[t]he difficult duality is prominent. The plan reflects the bisected inside space which accommodates the public and the clerks on different sides of the counter running perpendicular to the facade. On the outside the door and the window at grade reflect this duality: they are themselves bisected by the shafts above. But the shafts, in turn, divide the lintel into a unity of three with a dominant central panel. The arch above the lintel tends to reinforce duality because it springs from the center of a panel below, yet by its oneness and its dominant size it also resolves the duality made by the window and the door. The facade is composed of the play of diverse numbers of parts--single elements as well as those divided into two or three are almost equally prominent--but the facade as a whole makes a unity.”
I unfortunately visited Columbus on a day the bank was closed, so I didn’t get any interior photos. However, I’m really happy with the ones I got on the exterior, and I’m glad the bank is being used and preserved to this day.
Sources:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_WI/72000044_NHL.pdf
https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_WI/72000044.pdf
https://fmub.bank/history.html
Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture by Robert Venturi
The Complete Architecture of Adler & Sullivan by Richard Nickel
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