Iroquois Federal S & L Association - Home Mortgage

Iroquois Federal S & L Association
201 E Cherry Street,
Watseka, IL 60970
Phone:(815) 432-2476
Fax:(815) 432-6751

On May 3, 1883, the Iroquois Building and Loan Association, the predecessor of Iroquois Federal Savings and Loan Association, was chartered by the State of Illinois. These types of cooperative home financing organizations referred to in the laws of 1879 as "mutual building, loan and homestead associations" were just beginning to flourish.

By November 1883, the Iroquois Building and Loan Association had accumulated $300, which it offered to bidders, as then required by the charter, and a loan of that amount was made to a Watseka photographer and Justice of the Peace, at 6 percent interest and 25 percent premium. Ten years later, the reports show mortgage loans on hand in the principal amount of more that $60,000 including nine loans in seven other communities of Iroquois County to applicants who must have traveled as much as 24 miles each way by railroad or horse and buggy. Thus, county-wide service by Iroquois Building and Loan Association had its beginning more than 10 decades ago.

In August 1936, the association obtained a federal charter and became a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago and the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation. It wasn't long before applications for loans began coming from counties adjoining Iroquois on the east, south and west in addition to an increased number from Iroquois County.