The Old Merchants and Farmers Bank Building in the city of Emporia, completed in 1902, is a miniature version of the commercial structures that gave turn-of-the-20th-century America’s main streets architectural dignity. Even such a small structure could project a sense of monumentality through the use of a mansard roof and a fancy sheet-metal cornice, in this case manufactured locally by H. T. Klugel and sons. The cornice is a demonstration of how a rich architectural effect could be achieved with minimal cost and effort. The building was used as a bank until 1920 and as a law office until the mid-1940s. It then became the local library for the city of Emporia. In 1978 Greensville County deeded the building to the Greensville Historical Society. Located in the Hicksford Historic District, the Old Merchants and Farmers Bank Building was dedicated as a local history museum in 1994.