Money news in the College Square Mall

I noticed another move by another tax preparation service today, this one by Jackson Hewlett, which is moving from next to the pawn shop to a vacant spot next to Subway, which I think is the space vacated by H&R Block. Workers were installing the sign.

The Kentland Bank was celebrating its 80th anniversary today. It was chartered in 1932 as a private bank, the last private bank charted in Indiana. (I do not know how a private bank differed from a state bank.) In 1931 the Newton County State Bank had gone bust, leaving Kentland without a financial institution. In 1964 the Kentland Bank was able to open a branch in Lake Village, though it faced regulatory hurdles, and in 1971 it opened a branch at Roselawn. It did not arrive in Rensselaer until November, 1994, when it purchased the Rensselaer Branch of the NBD Bank, which was located in the front part of the bowling alley. In late November or early December it moved to its present location.

(Much of this information came from the very nice display that they had, including a program brochure from their 50th anniversary and several scrapbooks showing key events. The bank also has a Lafayette branch.)

In totally unrelated news, bits and pieces of city streets are getting a new layer of asphalt. I have not gotten a good picture yet. The streets nearest me are finished, so maybe I will miss this one.