First National Bank of Mandan became established in 1881, electing C. Edgar Haupt president, James Bellows vice president, and Rodney Lyons cashier. It was the first bank established west of the Missouri River in Dakota Territory and would remain Mandan’s only bank for many years. A wooden building was erected by the end of that year near the northwest corner of Front Street and Stark Avenue (today Main Street and Collins Avenue). A two-story brick building replaced it in 1906. That building was expanded in 1911 and 1927, and remodeled with a Greek Revival style in 1948.
In August 1962, construction commenced on a $350,000 two-story replacement bank located at 111 Second Avenue NW – formerly home to Remund Ford-Mercury. It opened in September 1963. A major expansion completed in January 1979 that added eight thousand square feet.
First National Bank of Mandan first affiliated with Minnesota-based Northwest Bancorporation (today’s Wells Fargo) in 1930 and became First Northwestern National Bank of Mandan in 1974, then Norwest Bank in 1983. Wells Fargo still occupies the 1963-built location.
The 1906-built building remains today, mostly housing professional offices, as well as Cappuccino on Collins. It should not be confused with First National Bank of Bismarck, which became established in 1879 and is now part of Wells Fargo Bank.
