THE ORIGINAL CURRIE STATE BANK CLOCK GETS NEW HOME AT END O LINE PARK

The old Currie State Bank clock recently found a new, highly visible home, after spending several decades safely tucked away out of sight on the second story of a clock collector’s barn in the rural Slayton area.

The bank, the clock and the clock collector all have interesting histories, and thanks to the collaboration and efforts of many, countless people who visit Currie’s End-O-Line Railroad Park & Museum in the future will have the opportunity to learn about all of it. “We did it!” Currie resident Mary Molitor said after the old bank clock was in position at its final destination at End-O-Line’s visitor center on Tuesday morning. “It’s home.”

Molitor’s parents, Alice and the late Robert “Bob” Rosengren, had possession of the old clock since it was taken down from the bank more than 50 years ago. “My father collected clocks (he had about 45), and when they took it off the bank, they gave it to dad,” Molitor said. “It’s been stored in the upper portion of the barn, dry and undamaged, since it came off the building. I had the idea (to donate it to End-O-Line) and bounced it off Donnie (Hansen).” Molitor explained that Donnie and Doug Hansen grew up running around the bank when their dad worked there and that the Hansen brothers are still at the bank today.

The old Currie State Bank clock was taken down in 1968, when new brick was added to the front of the building, along with a new sign. The interior was also remodeled at the same time, according to Currie historian Romane Dold.

The original bank building was built in 1901 at the intersection of 1st Street and Mill Street. “It was First State Bank when it was built,” Dold said. “It went broke during the depression. Henry Eiselein bought it and it became Currie State Bank in 1931.”

Henry Eiselein, and his wife, Annie, are believed to be the ones who purchased and put up the old Currie State Bank clock in the early 1930s. It was crafted by the McClintock-Loomis Company of Minneapolis. “It says they were in business for nine years, from 19081917,” Molitor said, looking up from her cellphone on Tuesday morning. “It was very popular and is around 100 years old for sure. And the second clock (a smaller one with a wooden case around it) is the brains of the clock. It sat sideways and ran the clock.” Quist Moving & Storage, LLC of Marshall was tasked with safely moving the old clock to its new home. After removing the chimes, owner Todd Quist estimates that the historic clock weighed roughly 300 pounds. That’s without the second clock, a second clockface and the glass plate for the opposite side of the clock.

Quist, along with assistants Austin Quist (his son), Jake Johnson and Austin Husby, skillfully wrapped, lowered, trailered, transported and unloaded the old clock to the museum in Currie. In addition to providing the tractor and loader, Leroy Kalas operated the equipment to help Quist and his crew lower the old clock to the ground level.

End-O-Line site supervisor Jake Halverson and museum director Nick Demuth were on site Tuesday to welcome everyone involved and expressed their excitement regarding the new historic addition. “We definitely wanted it,” Demuth said. “The only issue was where to put it, and we got that figured out pretty quickly. (Soon) We’ll put up a panel with information about everything.”

Halverson said he was thrilled they also received the second clock that ran the main one. “It is a treat to get the smaller one, too,” he said. “Mary told us about it, but I didn’t know it was coming here for sure.”

Dold and Donnie Hansen brought old Currie bank photos to share with everyone. “They came from my mom,” Hansen said. “I don’t know who took them, but I pulled them out of a shoebox (on Monday).”

Donnie and Doug Hansen still work at Currie State Bank about three days a week. As longtime co-