RUSK — The Heritage Center in Rusk is working to preserve the foundation of the oldest bank in the county and restore the aging building to its heyday in 1884.

The Bonner Bank Building building, located at 208 S. Henderson St. next to the Heritage Center of Cherokee County, is one of the oldest standing buildings in the county.

Kevin Stingley, Heritage Center's board president, said the building was built in 1865, and stood at the the current location of Austin Bank.

“Sam Wilson, who was a very, very prominent lawyer had his law office in there for 20 years, and then F.W. Bonner bought it from him and turned it into a bank in 1884,” Stingley said. “The first bank in the county.”

Stingley said the board began renovating the building this summer, but the work is a long way from finished. At its current location, the building sits on concrete slabs on top of an old asphalt top, which has begun to crack, and due to its location every time it rains drainage water washes over the ailing concrete, further complicating the problem.

On Monday, workers from Enriquez Concrete began work to repair and reinforce the foundation, by putting a 4-inch border on the existing asphalt and filling any cracks around its parameter. Cement blocks were placed behind and alongside the building to direct the flow of rainwater away from the structure and into the street.

Antonio Enriquez, owner of the concrete company, said workers will lay down approximately 92 square feet of concrete around the bank and another 75 feet to provide the protective barrier from rain.

“We will feel a lot better after that because I worried about that (building) washing out into Henderson Street,” Stingley said.

“I can sleep at night starting (today) when all of that is finished,” he said.

But the list of to-do's goes on. Stingley said a rotten corner post needs to be replaced on the front right corner of the building, inside and outside boards need to be replaced and wasp nests need to be removed from the attic.

Members will also work to remove the front windows, which Stingley said were a 1940s addition, and replace the 1940s clear glass front door with the historically-accurate 1864 back door.

“We have a picture of it from the 1890s,” Stingley said. “It's the only old photo we have, and you can see that the front windows were not there and it was a solid wood door. There was no railing around the front. It had little side railings, (so) we are going to remove that.”

Once the structural work is complete the job will be finished with a fresh coat of paint and a mixture of rock and mulch landscaping. A walkway made of engraved bricks will be made leading up to the entrance of the bank.

Stingley said the museum brought in a paint specialist about three years ago to determine the original color. He said during its time as a bank, the outside was painted a dull red and the interior walls were colored a light blue. He said, according to the paint expert, 130 years ago businesses had a much different idea of how to attract customers.

“That is  not uncommon for public building to be painted these gaudy colors because they stood out and people saw them,” he said. “Now today we wouldn't think of doing that, and we really don't realize buildings that old were painted that way because you have no photographic history except in black and white.”