• Date: 1913
• Style: Neo-Classical
• Architect: Freyermuth and Maurer
• District: Downtown Historic Registry

The Citizens Bank Building is an outstanding example of an early twentieth-century commercial building and one of only a few terra-cotta buildings still existing in downtown South Bend. The design was strongly influenced by the Chicago School, as evidenced by the pier and spandrel system along with the paired and tripartite window arrangements and the base, shaft, and capital configuration of the facade. Influence of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair is seen in the use of white terra-cotta and the Neo-Classical elements of portico and columns, window hoods, and bracketed cornice line. The Citizens Bank, which was founded in 1892, constructed this building in 1913; the back six bays were added in 1923. The structure was designed by Freyermuth and Maurer, a South Bend firm. George Freyermuth, a native of South Bend, gained his knowledge of architecture from his father, a building contractor. R. Vernon Maurer studied architecture in Chicago and worked there as a draftsman until returning to South Bend in 1895. The firm of Freyermuth and Maurer was formed in 1898 and continued until 1934, when George Freyermuth was elected mayor.

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