The Bank of Clemons began in 1901 with a $10,000 capital in a modest wooden building in the business district in Clemons, Iowa. A grandiose two-story brick building was constructed next door, a sign of the bank’s success. By 1927, bank deposits had grown in excess of $340,000. The Bank’s success was short-lived, however, and its doors were closed on August 17, 1931. The Clemsons Saving Bank was one of over a thousand Iowa banks to be closed around the time of the Great Depression.

The building was used as a branch office for the nearby Union-Whitten Savings Bank until 1945. When that office shuttered, the building was first repurposed as a restaurant before being used as a doctor’s office for nearly 40 years. In 1974, the Union-Whitten Savings Bank gave the building to the community of Clemons. The building now serves as the Clemons Community Center.