Firstar Corporation was a prominent Milwaukee-based regional bank holding company with historical roots tracing all the way back to 1853. A massive transformation occurred in early 2001 when Firstar completed a high-profile multi-billion-dollar acquisition of Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp. Rather than retiring the larger target's brand identity, management elected to adopt the globally recognized U.S. Bancorp name for the combined corporate entity and shifted the official headquarters to Minneapolis. This historic consolidation effectively retired the Firstar trade moniker from the American banking landscape, turning its extensive branch network across the Midwest and beyond into a core pillar of the modern U.S. Bank operations we see today.