On March 22, 1893, local businessman Otto Herbst and several fellow Germans organized the Teutonia Building Loan and Savings Association. Reflecting both the pride in their German ancestry and enthusiasm for the opportunities offered by America, the formation of the Teutonia was, in fact, a response to the Depression of 1893 as these men sought to weather that financial storm through self-help, mutual association and conservative money management.
The Teutonia prospered in its first two decades, but when World War I engulfed the United States, like the German-American Bank in the next block (which changed its name to The Lincoln National Bank), the Teutonia changed its name to the more patriotic Home Loan and Savings Association. In 2001 this bank became a part of the Old Kent Bank, and then of Fifth-Third Bank.
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