It was designed by the Des Moines architectural firm of Liebbe, Nourse & Rasmussen, and it was the only Mason City commission for this firm.

Atkinson of Webster City, Iowa who had built several other H.F. Liebbe designs.

John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, John Hamilton and Tommy Carroll robbed the bank on March 13, 1934 and stole about $50,000.

[2] Dillinger was wounded in an exchange of gunfire during the heist.

The bank building was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997,[1] and as a contributing property in the Mason City Downtown Historic District in 2005.