Marshalls current City Hall building (pictured below) at 401 South Alamo Street was originally constructed in 1977 as the home of Marshalls First Federal Savings and Loan Association. The building was built during the 50th anniversary of the S&L. An important part of that construction was a massive safe door that had been installed in a bank in Danville, Illinois in 1927, the year the S&L was founded, As was the custom at the time, the bank in Danville had been operated on the first floor of a building with the Masonic Lodge occupying the top floor. After the Bank moved into new quarters, the bank vault door was acquired by First Federal and then moved through a large hole knocked in the side wall. First Federal failed during the great savings and loan crisis in the late 1980s, when about 1/3rd of the savings and loans nationwide closed their doors. The current City Hall site was located in the first urban renewal project in Marshall during the early 1960s. The neighborhood being renewed was called Happy Hollow and was on both sides of South Alamo Street, pretty much bounded on the north by East Houston Street and one lot past Travis Street on the south. To give you an idea of the kind of slum that existed there at the time, you should note that the block now occupied by the City Hall had 26 residential dwellings but only one water tap. Sewerage was via outdoor privies.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 01:25:57 +0000
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