Farmers and Merchants Bank of Grace City formed Articles of incorporation the last week in August 1910 with a capital of $10,000 divided into $100 shares. James K. Banks of Sheldon, North Dakota, the principal shareholder having 50 shares
W.C. Goddard of Leonard, North Dakota 40 shares and A.M. Goddard of Leonard, North Dakota 10 shares. Bank to start September 1, 1910 and continued 25 years. Mr. W.C. Goddard moved to Grace City in 1912 and became cashier. Alvin and Thomas Dahl hauled the lumber from McHenry for the building, the first lumber to come into Grace City. In 1919 they sold the bank to H.S. Halverson and Hammer of Cooperstown and O.J. Melgard took over as cashier. The Bank closed its doors in 1928.
First State Bank of Grace City opened for business the first week in April with John Topp, president, and J.C. Nelson, cashier. In April of 1913 it reorganized:
John Topp, president
G. Bruce Wallace, vice president
Odin Ramsland of Faith, South Dakota, cashier
It closed its doors in 1931.
J.J. (John) Aarstad started up his hardware and implement store in 1910. H.O. Hanson became his partner. He also built the first house in Grace City. He was also a cattle buyer and shipped out 1,100 hogs on December 8, 1915. They ran it until 1925 when John's brother, Gust, ran it for a year. The doors were closed for a while, and then Roy Topp became manager in the fall of 1928. Odin Topp took over in 1946 and ran until 1967, when the doors closed and never reopened.
Otto Topp built his General Merchandise Store in 1910. His motto "Where Your Dollar buys the Most." He and his family lived in the back of the store for two years while his home was being built. His oldest daughter Esther was born there. She was the second child to be born in the town of Grace City and the first to be baptized in the Methodist Church. (The first baby born here was to a railroad construction worker and I never got the name. Mr. Topp ran the store until he sold out to Ernest Steward in 1942.
Alfred Anderson was Mr. Topp's partner for five years. Elaine (stepdaughter of Ernest Stewart) ran the store until 1955 when Mr. and Mrs. Herman Arneson bought it. In 1960 he sold it to Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Scanson who sold out to Y. Moorhouse in 1962. Then after Mr. Moorhouse decided to retire Mr. and Mrs. Vincent Schaack bought it in April of 1963. Mrs. Schaack has continued to run it since the death of her husband in 1976. She has enlarged the living quarters in the Topp Store and moved out of the basement of the Moorhouse store and is still running her store in the Moorhouse building.
The Schaack store was built by D.H.A. Owanson in 1912. L.K. Vick had his drug store in the front with Ole Aspmo and Ben Blinderman two of the early pharmacists. Later on they sold out to McGrath Brothers, who ran it as a general merchandise store. They sold their stock out to a Sutton merchant and closed the doors and the First State Bank took over 1919. In 1922 Abe Abraham took over and ran it until he sold out to Y.M. Moorhouse, who had run a pool hall in Grace City for a few years. He ran it until 1963.
Source: A History of Foster County 1983 Page 321