Pinnacle Bank In Neligh Has A Rich History

The history surrounding downtown Neligh is endless. Many of the buildings are crawling with tales from nearly 150 years of business and growth as the city continued to grow around the Old Mill.

No building catches the eye to visitors more than the building that houses Pinnacle Bank at 324 Main Street. Among the largest buildings downtown, the large white stone siding immediately catches the eye when looking down the street. 

The building first opened it’s doors in 1918. Remarkably, for the next 99 years, the building has been fortunate enough to avoid major disasters, unlike a number of its neighbors downtown. While a number of buildings in Neligh have experienced various changes due to changes in ownership, fires or simply remodeling, the current Pinnacle Bank has remained nearly unchanged over the century.

When the bank opened in 1918, it was built under the name of Atlas Bank. According to The History Of Neligh, Nebraska: 1873-1998 by Marie Krohn, the building was awe-inspiring from day one.

“It was faced with Indiana Stone, ‘one of the finest building stones in the U.S.,’” said Krohn. “The ornate design was pleasing rather than fancy, and the substantial structure dominated Main Street.”

Few costs were spared when constructing one of Neligh’s oldest remaining structures. The bank’s emblem, which still graces the building today, was placed at the peak of the front of the building. The emblem, a figure of Atlas supporting the world, was made of bronze. One of the few changes in the bank’s structure involves the figure. While Atlas can still be seen looking out from the top of the building, his hands and the globe have since gone missing. 

Below the figure, a three-sided clock extended from the corner of the bank. That clock was removed in the 1950s, but the chimes still grace the people of Neligh at the United Methodist Church. Inside, Italian marble counters were built on top of black and gold marble bases.

While the physical makeup of the building has stayed nearly the same, it has still seen a few changes. The bank’s name changed to Antelope State Bank, an institution that saw some struggles in the 1920s. According to, The History Of Neligh, in 1929 the bank suffered a loss of deposits, causing the institution to reorganize its management and work to repay depositors. 

According to The History Of Neligh, the bank changed hands in 1933, becoming the National Bank Of Neligh. The building was refurbished in the 1950s under the leadership of then-bank president Lyle Jackson, who then passed on ownership soon after.

“In February 1959, Judge Lyle Jackson sold his controlling interest in the National Bank of Neligh to Roy and J.A. Dinsdale of Palmer,” Krohn said in The History Of Neligh. “The Dinsdale brothers and their associate, John Glandt, took over management of the bank.”

In 1987, First United Bank took control of the building before changing hands to the current Pinnacle Bank in 1999. 

While the bank has avoided the fate of some of the other historic buildings in downtown Neligh, it certainly has its fair share of history and a strong place in Neligh’s history.