|
|
|
Okeechobee County, |
|
Florida |
|
A Pictorial History--Page 5A |
|
|
|
(Click Below to Stop Music) |
|
|
|
(Click Pictures to Enlarge) |
Mail service which had come by horseback from Fort Drum since 1902 was discontinued in January 1915, and subsequently came in by the New Railroad.
Lewis M. Raulerson constructed a large two-story building on the east corner of South Park and Osceola
(SW 5th Ave.) which was occupied in the spring of 1915.
The structure was built of metal in imitation of cut stone blocks and was then painted. It housed Raulerson’s Department Store and the Okeechobee post office. L. M. Raulerson was the town’s first banker, his
business being known as L. M. Raulerson and Co., Bankers. It was purchased by and merged into the Bank of Okeechobee which was
established in 1914, with W. L. Bragg as first president.
The
Bank of Okeechobee was housed in a small brick building located on the site of
the present-day Masonic lodge until a $10,000, two-story new structure was
erected next door to accommodate the bank’s growing business. The new building
was occupied in the summer of 1915 with the following slate of officers: W. L.
Bragg, president; L. M. Raulerson, vice president; and T. C. Beavers, cashier.
