Davenport Bank and Trust Company was for much of the 20th century the leading bank of the Quad Cities metropolitan area and the surrounding region of eastern

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

and western

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. It was at one time

's largest commercial bank, and the headquarters building has dominated the city's skyline since it was constructed in 1927 at the corner of Third and Main Streets in downtown

Davenport, Iowa Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and a ...

. It was acquired by

Norwest Bank Norwest Corporation was a banking and financial services company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. In 1998, it merged with Wells Fargo & Co. and since that time has operated under the Wells Fargo name. History Early formation Th ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

in 1993 and now operates as part of

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

following a 1998 merger of the two financial institutions. The historic building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1983 under the name of its predecessor financial institution American Commercial and Savings Bank. In 2016 the National Register approved a boundary increase with the Davenport Bank and Trust name. It was included as a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

in the

Davenport Downtown Commercial Historic District The Davenport Downtown Commercial Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in the central business district of Davenport, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020. At th ...

in 2020. It remains the tallest building in the Quad Cities, and is today known as Davenport Bank Apartments as it has been redeveloped into a mixed-use facility housing commercial, office, and residential space.

History

Henry Lischer and H.H. Anderson formed German Savings Bank in 1869. Davenport had a large German community and it contributed to the bank's success. with By the 1890s the city had become the financial center of the region and the state. German Savings Bank took over Citizens National Bank in 1906, and it merged with the Farmers and Mechanics Savings Bank in 1910. By 1916 it was the largest bank in Iowa. Because of anti-German sentiments that resulted from

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the bank's name was changed in 1918 to American Commercial and Savings Bank. As the 1920s began, Davenport had 11 banks. American Commercial and Savings Bank absorbed the Security Savings Bank at this time. They had this building constructed in 1927. The new building reflected the significance of the bank in the community, and it has dominated the city's skyline since it was built. As a result of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, it absorbed Iowa National Bank, the Citizens Trust and Savings Bank, and the Farmers and Merchants Bank and was one of five banks in the city that was still active when President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Emergency Banking Act in 1933. The others included: Bechtel Trust Company,

Northwest Davenport Savings Bank Northwest Davenport Savings Bank is a historic building located in a commercial district in the old northwest section of Davenport, Iowa, United States. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1984. History Northwest ...

Union Savings Bank and Trust Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''U ...

, and Home Savings Bank.Svendsen, 5-5. It was one of only two banks to re-open in Davenport. The bank changed its name at this time to Davenport Bank and Trust Company under the direction of E.P. Adler. By 1936, it rebuilt itself to become the second largest bank in Iowa. V.O. Figge became associated with the bank in 1931 as a bank examiner and served as vice-president, president and CEO into the 1990s. The bank's assets were at $1.5 million the year this building was completed and they grew to $100 million by 1960, once again making this the state's largest bank. In 1966, Davenport Bank built a Modern Movement drive-in banking facility on its surface parking lot at the northeast corner of Third and Main Streets. To replace the surface lot, a modern parking structure and additional space for the bank was built adjacent to the west side of the building in 1971. Davenport Bank & Trust was sold to

of Minneapolis in 1993 and became part of

following the merger of the two large banks in November 1998. In 2005 the building was purchased by Financial District Properties. A $7.5 million renovation project in 2013 converted the building's fifth, ninth, tenth and eleventh floors into 29 market rate apartments. Wells Fargo Bank remained alongside other commercial and residential tenants until the weekend of April 23–24, 2016 when it moved its operations to the redeveloped

Putnam-Parker Block The Putnam-Parker Block, also known as City Square, are historic structures located in downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States. The property includes three buildings that take up the south half of block 43 in what is known as LeClaire's First Addi ...

. The building was renamed Davenport Bank Apartments.

Architecture

The main bank building was designed by the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

architectural firm of Weary & Alford. It was built by Walsh-Kahl Construction Company from 1926 to 1927. The main building is twelve stories with a steel frame faced with

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. Bowers and Svendsen refer to the building's architecture as "ungainly" because of its juxtaposition of disparate stylistic elements that fail to provide a cohesive composition. The lower story façade features black marble panels on the lowest level, an ornate metal entrance, columns with stylized capitals and recessed Roman arched windows. The middle part of the building is a conservative office building with a smooth limestone surface punctuated by windows. Most of the south elevation and part of the west elevation, however, are clad in buff-colored brick. The building is capped by a pedimented temple and a three-story-tall clock tower. Four statues of eagles sit at the corners of the tower. The clock faces are in diameter. The total height of the building is , which makes it the tallest building in the Quad City area. Davenport Bank and Trust 04

The building has retained its original banking room, a multi-story space with an elaborately painted ceiling. The space is lit by the large Roman arched windows on the east elevation. The ceiling is a canopy of groin vaults and is painted in a multi-colored design. A painting by Davenport artist Hiram Thompsen depicting the signing of the treaty between the Sauk and Meskwaki tribes and the US government after the

Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis (Fox), and Kickapoos, known as the "British Band", crosse ...

has hung prominently on the south wall since 1928. The original wrought iron teller "cages" remain and the rest of the interior features dark wood and marble elements. The six-story parking structure with additional space for the bank was designed by the

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

engineering firm Richard C. Rich & Associates. The addition follows the

New Formalism New Formalism is a late 20th- and early 21st-century movement in American poetry that has promoted a return to metrical, rhymed verse and narrative poetry on the grounds that all three are necessary if American poetry is to compete with novels an ...

style of architecture. It is made up of five stories of parking comprising 250 parking spaces, and a sixth floor that

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a canti ...

s over the lower floors. The top floor originally housed office space. The panels that hold up the structure are cast concrete and the screen is made of

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

. A continuous circular ramp located in the center provides access to all of the parking levels. The parking structure is connected to the bank/office building by a three-story

hyphen The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. ''Son-in-law'' is an example of a hyphenated word. The hyphen is sometimes confused with dashes (figure d ...

that reflects the modern parking structure architecturally. Its north elevation is primarily glass

Artwork

The ceiling decoration of the main banking room was designed by Chicago artist Alexander Rinoskopf and was executed by the Davenport decorating firm of Hartman and Sedding. Ten men created the stencils on of paper and two artists rendered the work in oils. The

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

style of work features

spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving farther away as it revolves around the point. Helices Two major definitions of "spiral" in the American Heritage Dictionary are:rosettes, festoons,

griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...

swan Swans are birds of the family (biology), family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form t ...

s and

mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practic ...

s. In addition, there are also ten murals that are high, which provide a chronological history of Davenport from its earliest times to the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. The murals depict the arrival of the first Europeans to this part of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

Valley (1654); the Sauk warrior

Black Hawk Black Hawk and Blackhawk may refer to: Animals * Black Hawk (horse), a Morgan horse that lived from 1833 to 1856 * Common black hawk, ''Buteogallus anthracinus'' * Cuban black hawk, ''Buteogallus gundlachii'' * Great black hawk, ''Buteogallus ur ...

(1812); the battle on Davenport's Credit Island in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

(1814); the last bison chased from what is now the Quad Cities (1816); the construction of

Fort Armstrong A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

on what is now

Arsenal Island An arsenal is a place where weapon, arms and ammunition are made, maintenance, repair, and operations, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether Private property, privately or state-owned, publicly owned. Arse ...

(1817); the first steamboat up the Mississippi River (1823); the establishment of Davenport and immigration to the new town (1836); Davenport's first school (1838); the first railroad bridge across the Mississippi River (1856); and the Civil War training camps that operated in Davenport (1861). The largest mural occupies the south wall of the building and depicts the signing of the Black Hawk Treaty in September 1832. The treaty was signed at what is now Fifth and Farnam Streets in Davenport. Hiram Thompsen, who created the painting, was a native of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

and studied at the Chicago Art Institute and the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. He was a commercial artist who went on to do advertising artwork for Davenport-based Gordon-Van Tine and

Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a world-pioneering mail-order business and later also a leading department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001. The curren ...

. The painting measures . It features the likenesses of General

Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early s ...

, his interpreter and Davenport founder Antoine LeClaire, and the Native American chiefs Keokuk and Pashapaho.

References

External links

{{Historic Davenport structures Office buildings completed in 1927 Transport infrastructure completed in 1971 Neoclassical architecture in Iowa Modernist architecture in Iowa Clock towers in Iowa Buildings and structures in Davenport, Iowa Bank buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Skyscrapers in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Davenport, Iowa Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Iowa Skyscraper office buildings in Iowa 1933 establishments in Iowa