Let's Rock and Reattach the Stone!

Rebuilt and ready to rock the stone!

We have turned a big corner on the Stone Bank Project. In 2022, our contractors finished rebuilding the back section of the bank building, and we are ready to reattach the stone! 

Above:  The back of the Stone Bank rebuilt over a solid foundation with a new entrance to make the building handicap accessible.  

Joe Whetter, our stone mason, will do the heavy lifting, but he needs our help. The original stones are too wide to fit and need to be cut to put the facade back in place. Your donation will help break a stone or two and put the outside of the building back together again.

Joe recently demonstrated how he breaks a stone. This stone, about 50 lbs., took about 12 minutes to break. First he drilled several holes into the stone, inserted wedges and then tapped. 

It took just short of 15 minutes to break the stone, but it had a flaw/crack, so it didn't break cleanly. However, the piece that broke off is useable. Joe will have to break a couple hundred stones to cover the facade, and most of them are larger than 50 lbs.   

The Stone Bank was built by pioneer craftsmen in 1900 of stones carried to North Dakota by glaciers, and Joe will cut, align and reattach the original stones to the building again.

It is a time-consuming task that requires both skill and patience. 

Your gift will help break more stones!

We set the "sample" rock in the Stone Bank's window to show the work Joe has ahead of him.

A $3,500 grant from the North Dakota Community Foundation is helping us to get cracking on the stones. But the stone cutting will take five times that amount. So your gift will make a difference. 

We hope you will join us in the effort to preserve and restore this wonderful historic building. 

Touchstones. Inc is an all-volunteer organization, and your donation goes toward work on the building.

Above: Built in 1900 as Bottineau County Bank, we now call the building the Stone Bank. This photo is from 1901. 

This charming, historic building is a link to the fortitude and vision of the town's founders and our pioneer heritage. 

Your gift will carry that vision long into the future. Thanks for your support.