In an increasingly digital world, F&C Bank in Holden, Missouri, is making time for a piece of its analog past.
In March, the $503 million-asset community bank reinstalled a refurbished clock that once hung outside its former downtown Holden location. Originally installed when the building first opened in 1960, the clock has long been part of both the streetscape of the community and the history of the bank, which celebrated its 145th anniversary in March.
The clock had been absent from the former bank building for more than eight years while undergoing restoration. In March, it finally returned to its longtime home downtown to the delight of the community.
For Bob Mickey, CEO and board chairman of F&C Bank and a lifelong Holden resident, restoring the clock offered an opportunity to preserve a piece of the community’s past. He remembers how the clock played a familiar tune every hour, followed by a number of gongs corresponding to the hour, so people could tell the time even if they could only hear it.
“I think the clock is a throwback to what people perceive to be simpler times and is comforting,” Mickey says.
The restored clock hangs in its original location, with a few design changes Mickey hopes will make it meaningful to the wider community as well as the bank. Updated panels now read “Welcome to Historic Holden, MO” and incorporate the city’s train logo and its 1858 founding date.
While the community bank has expanded its services and embraced new technology over the decades, its restored clock provides a visible connection to the people and place that have shaped it.
“I grew up in this town, so being another person who’s been here a long time, everyone has a sense of pride about [the clock] and has memories of it,” Mickey says. “I hope it symbolizes legacy and continues to be a landmark of the community.”