A century standing as a landmark in downtown Smithville, and what began as the People’s Bank & Trust building was recently open for all to see. Its preservationist happy to show how life has been breathed back into the historic building.
“I fell in love with this building and its history,” explained owner Jeremy Trapp, who led visitors on tours of the restored building during open house to commemorate its 100th anniversary. “I wanted to restore it but preserve its uniqueness at the same time.”
Once called the White Corner of court square, Trapp bought the building from Imogene Cantrell a few years ago. She operated Cantrell’s Jewelry at the location, one of many businesses that operated there over the past century.
The 2,400-square-foot building, having 1,200 feet of space upstairs and downstairs was used as a bank, department store, jewelry store, law office and bank.
“Sorry, but the safe had been removed before I bought the building,” Trapp smiled, silencing rumors that the old bank safe still existed inside the refurbished landmark.
The building is now Trapp’s law office, located within steps of the courthouse, its grand columns facing the halls of justice.
“I really wanted to bring back the columns out front that existed in earlier pictures of the building,” he said, pointing to the two wide columns guarding the entrance to the corner building.
Trapp said he took it one step at a time, redoing the downstairs first before turning his attention to the upstairs portion of the building. The upstairs had been used for little more than storage since the 1940s, meaning it was pretty well a total reset as the upstairs was gutted and redone.
One area in which Trapp noted that the building does not match history is the staircase connecting the upstairs and downstairs.
“The only way you could get upstairs was through an outside staircase that adjoins a nearby building,” he said. “I decided it would be better to install the inside staircase instead of having outside access only.”
“It was built around 1917-18 as People’s Bank & Trust of DeKalb County and in late 1920s First National Bank bought out or took over the bank. It then become, in the 1950s or early 1960s, Puckett’s Department Store for a while,” he said. “Joe L. Evins bought it from First National Bank and let Puckett’s Department Store rent it for a while until Imogene and Max Cantrell bought the building in 1965. From that time on, she and Max owned it.”
Trapp said there were likely teeth pulled in the upstairs portion of the building. “Many years ago there was a dentist office upstairs. I talked to some older clients who had actually been up here when it was a dentist office. R.L. Turner had a law office up there. His name was still on the door on the top level when I bought the building.
Chamber Director Suzanne Williams and other representatives of the Smithville-DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce presented Trapp with a Community Improvement Award during the open house.
