Lewis System Armored Car And Detective Service Building
The Lewis System, Inc. was established in 1919 and incorporated in 1922 by Harry Lewis, who grew up in St. Louis and was in the United States Army before he became a railroad detective and moved to Sioux City. By 1930 the company grew to 111 employees and had offices in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Omaha, Nebraska, Chicago, and Kansas City, Missouri. A large portion of their business was in retail crime, but they also provided security guards for business firms, security checks, and security alarms. After Harry's brother Paul joined him in the late 1930s they added the armored car division. That division opened offices in Des Moines, Waterloo, Fort Dodge, and Cedar Rapids in Iowa and in Sioux Falls. Harry Lewis served as the company president until his death in 1951, and Paul took over from him and continued until his death in 1957. The company was sold to Samartick and Company of Omaha and they operated the business here until 1969. Wells Fargo Armored Car Service took over the building in 1970 and remained here until 1996. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ Sheriffa M. Jones; Julie Schmidt. "Lewis System Armored Car and Detective Service Building" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-12-23.
- ^ "Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 10/03/16 through 10/07/16". National Park Service. October 14, 2016. Retrieved 2016-11-04.