You can bank on it — the building on the corner of Lincoln Way and Hayward Avenue has been a thriving financial institution for 81 years and is still going strong.

Chartered in 1916 as the College Savings Bank, Firstar Bank’s university branch has survived name changes, ownership transfers and four remodelings to become the oldest continuously operated business in Campustown.

An article in the Nov. 6, 1915, Iowa State Student described a “thoroughly modern bank building” to be erected one block west of A.J. Champlin’s grocery store (the current site of People’s Bar and Grill). Construction was slated “to start at once,” the article stated.

The bank’s founder and first president was C.J. Lynch, and it was originally incorporated for $25,000.

C.A. Knudson became part of the bank in 1926, launching that family’s long history of association with the bank. He served as president until 1960, when his son, Dean, who had been with the bank since 1939, took over as president and chairman of the board.

In 1977, a group of investors including then ISU Vice President of Information and Development Carl Hamilton bought out the Knudsons, ending more than 50 years of family ownership. At that time, the bank’s assets were $29 million.

Dorothy Budolfson, whose husband Christian worked at the bank from 1938-1978 as a teller, cashier and vice president, remembered the circumstances surrounding the buyout.

“It was tragedy that Dean Knudson had health problems and had to sell the bank,” she said.

University Bank and Trust (the name had changed in 1965 after Iowa State College became Iowa State University in 1959) merged with Union Story Trust and Savings in December 1984, forming an entity with assets of $125 million. Six months later, the name was changed to United Bank and Trust.

Both branches had previously been owned by Larry Wenzel, and the merger simply unified their services, according to Becki Kenton, a Firstar administrative assistant.

Some time later, Banks of Iowa, a bank holding company, bought out United Bank and Trust, but the bank kept its name until 1991, when Firstar Corp. acquired Banks of Iowa. The downtown and Campustown branches then became individual offices of Firstar Bank.

The most recent change occurred in 1992, when the lobby was remodeled to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, making services more accessible for handicapped patrons.

“It’s always been focused on the students,” said Jeanne Maharry, branch manager of the Campustown office.

“We enjoy the students from all over the United States and all over the world. It keeps us fresh,” she said.

History of the bank

The history of the bank holds fond memories for all who have been involved with it.

Dorothy Budolfson and Farwell Brown, the unofficial Ames historian, cited the Knudsons’ determination during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

“When they went into the Depression, they were solvent all the way through,” Brown said. He said all the other banks in the area took “bank holidays,” but College Savings Bank was able to avoid that fate because they kept a high percentage of their assets liquid.

“They were so proud it had never closed during the Depression,” Budolfson said.

She recalled a hair-raising incident in the bank’s history when the notorious Dillinger gang robbed the bank, took Dean Knudson and teller Emmett LaVelle hostage and escaped west on Lincoln Way.

“They held both men at gunpoint on the running boards [of the getaway car] until they got to Franklin [Avenue], and then they decided they better let them go. That was very scary,” she said.

Budolfson said the bank was well-known for the courteous way it handled its customers.

“It was always a wonderful bank because they gave excellent service,” she said. “They took pride in serving their members.”

The Knudsons took good care of their workers as well, Budolfson said.

“Early on, Dean Knudson put in profit-sharing for the employees,” which provided a retirement bonus, she said.

Budolfson also described “a real family feeling in the atmosphere” at the bank. Frequent Christmas parties built friendship, and some wives of bank staffers would often help out when envelopes needed to be stuffed, she remembered.

Jo Knudson, Dean Knudson’s wife, even made calls to check up on wives who were pregnant or at home taking care of their children, Budolfson said.