Records dating to 1837 identify David Ditch, an early Waterloo pioneer, as the original owner of this property. Ditch operated Waterloo’s first hotel and bar, Ditch Tavern, about two blocks north. In November 1870, Louis Bersche Jr. purchased 113 South Main and opened Bersche’s Jewelry Store. Twenty-two years later, after Bersche Jr. filed bankruptcy, the building was auctioned by the state in 1892. The State Bank of Waterloo bought the property, known as the Bersche Site, from William H. Horine for $4,000 on February 1, 1894. The bank had been organized on January 6, 1894, and chartered on January 31, 1894, with Hubert Kuenster as president, George Pinkel as vice-president, and Albert H. Pinkel as cashier. That year the bank demolished the existing building and constructed the present one, operating meanwhile from the Pinkel building in Waterloo. Completed in November 1894 at a cost of $10,360 for land, building, and fixtures, the new building was designed by St. Louis architect J.L. Weiss and built by contractor Edward Distelkamp. Bersche Jewelry Store leased the southern portion of the bank’s first floor. On June 7, 1912, the bank bought an additional 18.5 feet of land on the north side from Theodore Ruch and added space, which it initially leased to the U.S. Post Office for $350 per year. In July 1920, an extensive remodeling removed the lobby divider wall and allowed the bank to expand across the entire first floor, while Bersche Jewelers moved next door to the Masonic building. Other tenants included Dr. E.F. Stallman and attorney Charles Morrison. In June 1957, the bank became the first in Waterloo to offer Friday Night Banking with extended Friday evening hours. A 1973 remodeling added a 30-foot rear addition for computer space and a board room, and in 1989 the bank installed a walk-up window for after-hours service. In June 2004, TWM purchased the property from State Bank as the bank began building a new location along Route 3, and the building also became home to Stifel, Nicolaus and Company, Incorporated.