Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
UNION TRUST AND SAVINGS BANK
UNION TRUST AND SAVINGS BANK. '"The Bank that Boosts Dubuque." Opened on January 20, 1887, Union Trust was originally known as the GERMAN TRUST AND SAVINGS BANK. The bank changed its name in 1918 in response to the anti-German feelings caused by the First World War.
Among those who organized the bank were John BELL, Peter KLAUER, and Nicholas GLAB. Bell served as the bank's first president until his death in 1893. He was succeeded by Paul TRAUT. Peter Klauer was elected president on January 16, 1889. In 1923 Christopher H. BERG was the president as the bank opened its new building.
Union Trust recorded tremendous growth in its deposits. After three months of operation, the bank showed deposits in excess of $66,000. This more than doubled by the end of the first year. By 1923 bank deposits totaled over three million dollars.
Union Trust was the first bank in Iowa to use the Bank Insured Savings System. Under the plan, depositors were given insurance and credit on the rest of their payments to be payable in full face value in the event of death.
In 1932 during the Great Depression Union Trust was declared insolvent, and the Federal Discount Corporation purchased the building. Eventually this building became the home of DUBUQUE BANK AND TRUST COMPANY.
(Photo Courtesy: http://www.dubuquepostcards.com)
---
Source:
"Union Trust Big Factor in Growth of the Community," Telegraph Herald, Nov. 19, 1923