The Bank of Wildwood: The 1908 Building That Still Welcomes Guests on Main Street

Most people who walk through the front door at 101 N. Main Street are thinking about dinner. But pause on the threshold and look to the left, and you'll find a small plaque with a big story. This modest building, now home to Miz Kathi's Cotillion Southern Cafe, is believed to be the oldest commercial building still standing in downtown Wildwood.

When the Bank of Wildwood opened its doors in October 1908, Wildwood was still a young city. The Florida Legislature had validated its incorporation in 1889, and the arrival of the railroad in the early 1880s had turned the settlement into a crossroads of commerce and travel. That same era saw the city's first City Hall, an eight-sided building known as "The Wigwam."

A bank was a sign that a town intended to stay. It gave local farmers, merchants and families a place to save, borrow and build. The building itself reflects that steady ambition: a modest structure in the Greek Revival style, the classical design so often chosen for banks to suggest strength and permanence.

The bank's first president was David H. Baker, who came to Wildwood in the late 1800s. His name may sound familiar to local history lovers. Baker also built the well-known Baker House, which dates to around 1890, was home to six generations of the Baker family and once served as the post office for the community then called Orange Home. The family donated the home and property to the City of Wildwood in 2012.

In 2022, the building's story received the recognition it deserved. The Timucua Chapter of the National Society Colonial Dames XVII Century, a women's lineage society dedicated to preserving historic sites and records, held a ceremony to mark the former bank.

Amanda Geer, the chapter's first vice president, spent months researching the bank's history. Her work was shared with the Florida Department of State's Division of Historical Resources, and the Bank of Wildwood was added to the Florida Master Site File, the state's official inventory of historical and cultural resources.

The ceremony drew chapter members, community residents, Wildwood Mayor Ed Wolf and Congressman Daniel Webster. Fittingly, descendants of David H. Baker and of other former bank presidents attended and shared their own family memories of the bank. The event ended with the unveiling of the marker that now hangs beside the front door, followed by a lunch reception hosted inside.

The building's modern chapter began in 2008, when Kathi Hall Vincent, a ninth-generation Floridian known as Miz Kathi, opened her Southern cafe there after her husband noticed a "for rent" sign on the weathered old bank. Her family's own home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, so a historic building on Main Street was a natural fit.

Today the old bank is filled with vintage photographs, antique pieces and lace-covered tables, many of the treasures donated by locals. The result is a dining room that feels like a living scrapbook of Wildwood, set inside the very walls where the town once did its business.

Wildwood is growing quickly, and new construction is changing the landscape almost by the month. That makes the places that remember where we came from even more precious. The Bank of Wildwood has stood on Main Street for more than a century, through booms, the Depression and decades of change, and it is still a place where neighbors gather.

Next time you pass 101 N. Main Street, slow down and read the plaque. Better yet, stop in for a meal. History tastes better with biscuits.

When was the Bank of Wildwood built?

The Bank of Wildwood opened for business in October 1908.

What is the oldest commercial building in downtown Wildwood, Florida?

The former Bank of Wildwood at 101 N. Main Street is believed to be the oldest surviving commercial building in downtown Wildwood.

Who was the first president of the Bank of Wildwood?

David H. Baker, an early Wildwood settler who also built the historic Baker House, was the bank's first president.

What is in the Bank of Wildwood building today?

Since 2008, the building has been home to Miz Kathi's Cotillion Southern Cafe, a family-owned Southern restaurant.

Is the Bank of Wildwood a recognized historic site?

Yes. The building was added to the Florida Master Site File and received a historical marker from the Timucua Chapter of the National Society Colonial Dames XVII Century in 2022.