Ridgefield State Bank

Location: 230 Pioneer Street

Ridgefield State Bank

The brick building at 230 Pioneer Street, now Ridgefield City Hall, was once home to Ridgefield State Bank (RSB). First established in 1910, RSB first opened within Ridgefield Mercantile Co. on Pioneer Street, the town’s main thoroughfare. 

On June 30, 1916, three men cut all of the telephone wires leading out of Ridgefield. They then robbed the store, bound and gagged two citizens, and went over to the bank and attempted to crack open the safe with explosives. They were unsuccessful, and never caught. The following year a couple of unknown holdup artists tried to crack RSB’s vault again! The bandits broke into the neighboring hardware store and used pilfered tools to drill a hole into the bank’s plaster wall. They ransacked the safety deposit boxes, making off with $115, but the would-be safecrackers were unable to break into the vault. About a month later, Ridgefield farmer J.W. Davis discovered shotgun shells and a keyhole saw from the robbery in his cornfield. Despite these clues, it is unclear if the crooks were ever caught.

The local lender grew alongside Ridgefield eventually building a new bank by 1920. The building was constructed by Charles Greeley and featured a spacious lobby, women’s restroom, private office for officers and directors and an interior finished in oak and marble. The new bank had a state of the art vault touted as having 18” thick walls reinforced with 1” steel bars placed 6” apart. The bank officially opened at the end of December and celebrated the new year (1921) with a public open house which attracted about 400 people.

When the Ridgefield State Bank closed during the Great Depression in the 1930s, John Bratlie bought the business “just to keep it open.” Local philanthropist Ed .W. Firstenburg got his start at RSB in 1936, working there as a casher for nearly 15 years. In 1950 Firstenburg purchased the Ridgefield State Bank. Four years later, Firstenburg relocated headquarters to Vancouver, joined with other small lenders, and renamed it First Independent Bank. The Ridgefield building was then one of two branches, and additional branches continued to open for several years. With a clear commitment to the community and public life, Firstenburg donated the historic building to Ridgefield for public use in 1975.

In 2013, the City completed major renovations to modernize the building. They retained the original look and character, including as much of the original materials as possible. The tile in the lobby is original, and the front counter was previously a bank-teller counter. 

In 2019 the Clark County Historic Preservation Commission listed the building to the Clark County Heritage Register. 

Today, the former Ridgefield State Bank building continues to serve as City Hall for the burgeoning city of Ridgefield. Portraits of all of the city mayors since incorporation are on display, and the vault remains a centerpiece of the building.