The prosperity that settled over West Branch in the 1890s prompted the establishment of a second downtown bank. The growth in commercial activity in West Branch, including the banking business, surprised even the editor of The West Branch Times.
"And still they come," said an item in the April 7, 1898, edition of the paper. "It has been our pleasant lot since the beginning of the new year to announce nearly every week some new industry, institution or local enterprise come, opened up or about to come to our lively little city. The latest is the new Savings Bank, which seems to be an assured success. It will be pre-eminently progressive and popular in all respects and strictly up-to-date, with a board of directors who will shape the policy of the institution so that none can complain. We understand a few shares of stock are still to be had."
Most of those shares were likely owned by two prominent West Branch businessmen: J.C. Crew, a dry goods store operator and the bank's new president, and Nathan H. Crook, owner of Crook's Hotel and the new bank's vice-president. The Citizens' Savings Bank opened in temporary quarters in a drug store on South Downey Street on July 19, 1898. At the same time, Nathan Crook was making plans for a two-story brick banking house to be located at what is now 110 West Main Street

By mid-August of 1898, Nathan Crook had awarded the contracts for the new brick building to two local firms: Hunter & Ward would handle the stone and brick work, while G.L. Barnes & Sons would do the rest. Bad weather delayed construction, but when the stone work and brick work were finally finished on October 15, 1898, Nathan Crook pulled inspection. Crook was so delighted with the quality of workman-ship that he stepped inside Orr L. Keith's jewelry store (building 13), bought two silver cups and saucers and presented them to an astonished Hunter and Ward. "This is the right way for men to deal," The West Branch Times declared in relating the tale. "In the first place, Mr. Crook, in letting the contracts, gave home mechanics the preference, and by doing gets honest service, and all materials used, brick, lumber, hardware, has been bought of West Branch dealers, that could be furnished by them, and the result is he has a building he may be well proud of, one that is indeed a credit to the town."

On December 13, 1898, G.L. Barnes & Sons dazzled the community by installing the new bank building's 8 by 11-foot plate glass window. "There is only one larger glass in Iowa City, that in the First National Bank building," The Times noted. "There were several other large pieces put in place, making as complete a glass front as will be found in any of the large cities. "The new bank's cashier, P.V.N. Myers, moved into the new building even before the dust had settled. From a table in a corner he met the pre-Christmas banking needs of his customers amid a gang of carpenters who were busy installing furniture and fixtures. In business only six months, the assets of the Citizens' Savings Bank had grown from $20,000 to $40,650.

On December 29, 1898, The Times declared the new bank building complete: "The Citizens' Savings Bank is now located in its spacious new home, planned and built for that specific purpose, which for convenience and beauty of finish these rooms are unsurpassed anywhere in this part of the state, not excepting the larger cities. The bank occupies all of the first floor of N.L. Crook's new block except the stair hallway off the east side. The room is 50 feet deep and 20 feet wide, divided into three principle apartments; first the lobby or waiting room, which is supplied with a desk and writing material; then to the right, seperated (sic) from the lobby by a low partition, is an office room nicely furnished with table, stationary (sic) and chairs for the accommodation of customers. These rooms are seperated (sic) from the cashier's department by an angling counter about 30 feet long, semicircular in form. This is surmounted by high lattice and grill work of brass, with panels of beveled and chipped plate glass. The convex or inner side of the counter is supplied with numerous drawers and cells, the outside with a base ten inches wide of gray Tennessee marble. The woodwork of all the furnishings is of quarter-sawn hard oak, enamel finish. The parlor is in the south extremity of the building, divided from other apartments by an 8-foot partition. This room, as well as the little office in front, will be nicely carpeted in a few days. The monster burglar-proof safe and the fire-proof vault are among the important features of the institution, especially the vault, which is built up from below the basement on solid stone foundation. The walls around the vault have a four-inch air chamber and a double pair of thick steel doors."

After that description of the spare-no-expense approach to outfitting a new and thriving bank amid an era of un-paralleled farm prosperity, this closing statement to the newspaper's review was hardly necessary: "It has been the design of the builder and the bank proprietors to have everything precisely as it should be, and as near first class as the necessities would warrant."
The Citizens' Savings Bank would prosper at its new location for 10 years. By 1908, its assets swollen to $121,000, the bank had outgrown its building. A new bank was planned for the northeast corner of Main and Downey streets. In December of 1908, G.C. Shrader agreed to buy the 10-year-old bank building on West Main Street, allowing him to relocate and expand his grocery business. Although it would not survive the Great Depression, the Citizens' Savings Bank had seen West Branch through the best of times, if not the worst of times. It had, in fact, lived up to the prediction published in The West Branch Times on July 14, 1898, a few days before the bank first opened for business: "This institution is another of the outgrowths of West Branch enterprise, owned and controlled entirely by and for the benefit of West Branchers and the business auxillary (sic) of the town, bringing more capitol (sic) will bring more investment and create new channels of business enterprise, give employment and general prosperity to the community."