Stock Exchange Bank
Main St., Fargo, OKThis building housed the banking service for the town of Fargo from 1908 until 1939. Originally chartered in May of 1903, the Stock Exchange Bank would merge with the Farmers State Bank which was started in 1908 by C.C. Manso and Chris Strongburg. Vernon Brown, the owner of the Stock Exchange Bank, built the building in 1908 and reopened the consolidated bank as the Stock Exchange Bank. The bank continued to provide services to the residents of Fargo after the building was sold to A.M. Benbrook in 1911. Benbrook took over the management of the bank on 1 January 1912 and served as head cashier for 10 years. He purchased control of the bank in 1922 and then became its president. The Stock Exchange Bank continued to help in the growth of Fargo and the surrounding community through the Depression until it was decided to move the bank to Woodward, 12 miles to the northeast, where it still operates today. The Fargo building has remained in the Benbrook family and has been used for storage since the bank moved. The interior fixtures of oak and marble have been donated to the Woodward Historical Museum and a replica of the bank interior is now displayed using the original fixtures and ceiling. Mr. Benbrook has achieved recognition in many. banking ventures. He was a distinguished member of the Oklahoma State Banking Board from May 1951 to 1959. He also served during that time as president and managing officer of the Stock Exchange Bank of Woodward.
Local significance of the building:Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.