By AP/KWMU
Springfield, Ill. – A bank in southern Illinois is being recognized as historically significant for its architecture. Officials from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency have identified the Old Exchange National Bank in Okawville as a Mesker building.
That means its facade was produced by the Mesker Brothers Iron Works of St. Louis in the late 1800s or early 1900s.
Mesker buildings are found all over the U.S., but a large number are found in Illinois since most of their elements were made in the Midwest. They usually have facades made of galvanized steel and cast iron.
The bank in Okawville has an ornamental sheet metal and cast iron facade.
It was built in 1910 and is the 500th Mesker that's been identified so far.