Filed Under Virginia City

Allen and Millard Bank

Virginia City National Historic Landmark District

The Federal Reserve Bank of Montana identifies the Allen and Millard Bank, which opened here in 1864, as the first real bank in Montana Territory. While other businesses in the territory called themselves banks, most were actually express companies that exchanged gold for cash or offered storage space in their safes. Allen and Millard, in fact, had the power to write drafts on a New York bank. The building itself, beautifully maintained, is one of Virginia City’s oldest and best-preserved stone buildings. Although the original French doors and tall, narrow windows were replaced circa 1900, the front façade features the original ashlar stone, bracketed wooden cornice, and wooden window heads, allowing the building to retain its 1860s appearance. The bank operated as Hall and Bennett into the early 1900s and then became the Madison State Bank, which did business until 1930.

Images

Hall and Bennett Bank, Virginia City
Hall and Bennett Bank, Virginia City View of five unidentified men standing on a boardwalk in front of a large stone building, one man is holding up a bicycle. Source: PAc 956-097, Montana Legacy Photograph Collection, Montana Historical Society Research Center Photograph Archives, Helena, MT. Creator: Unknown photographer Date: ca. 1895
Allen and Millard Bank, streetview
Allen and Millard Bank, streetview Bank built by Allen and Millard in Virginia City, Montana, later Hussey, Dahler and Co. Source: Catalog # 956-098, Montana Historical Society Research Center Photograph Archives, Helena, MT. Creator: Photographer Taylor Date: no date
Allen & Millard Bank, Virginia City
Allen & Millard Bank, Virginia City View looking southwest at building facade on Wallace St. Source: Courtesy of Montana Heritage Commission Creator: Kate Steeley, Montana Heritage Commission Date: Oct 2019

Location

120 West Wallace Street, Virginia City, Montana | Private

Metadata

The Montana National Register Sign Program, “Allen and Millard Bank,” Historic Montana, accessed March 29, 2024, https://historicmt.org/items/show/13.