Note that WATKINS is etched into the archway of the entrance on Massachusetts Street. When the building was completed in 1888 there were dirt streets and board sidewalks in front of it. It was called a 'thing of beauty.'

The building was outside of the business district of downtown Lawrence. When the county courthouse location was decided in 1902, Mr. Watkins donated the land for the courthouse to help bring people towards his bank and business. There were protestations in 1902 that it was too far from the business district. Of the eight sites proposed for a courthouse seven of them were north of ninth street.

There were houses and churches on this block, and it's difficult for us today to envision dirt streets here.

Mr. Watkins acknowledged the distance of his bank from the business district by opening an auxiliary banking office in the 700 block of Massachusetts. Our building was built at a cost of $100,000. Based on architectural estimates it would cost more than $20,000,000 to replace it today.