The First National Bank and Trust Building is a historic building on Public Square in downtown

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

.Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 1.

St. Clair Shores St. Clair Shores is a suburban city bordering Lake St. Clair in Macomb County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It forms a part of the Metro Detroit area, and is located about northeast of downtown Detroit. Its population was 59,715 at the 2010 ce ...

: Somerset, 1999, 10-11. The rectangular building, completed in 1926, was designed by

Weary & Alford Company Weary and Alford Company was an American architectural firm with partners Edwin Delos Weary and Willam Headley Alford. The firm was known for its design of office buildings and bank buildings and was headquartered in Chicago. The firm also emplo ...

, an architectural firm from

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

. It was the location of the offices of the First National Bank and Trust Company from 1926 until 1974, when the company became a part of

Huntington Bank Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is an American bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. The company is ranked 521st on the Fortune 500, and is 26th on the list of largest banks in the United States. The company's banking s ...

. The structure's twelve

stories Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (British ...

are faced with

Indiana Limestone Indiana limestone — also known as Bedford limestone in the building trade — has long been an economically important building material, particularly for monumental public structures. Indiana limestone is a more common term for Salem Limestone, ...

. Each column of windows is topped with an arch window on the highest floor, and the

spandrel A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fill ...

s between the arch windows are connected to each other. Founded as the "Lima Trust Company" in 1903, the First National Bank and Trust used a

Masonic building List of Masonic buildings identifies notable buildings around the world associated with Freemasonry. Often these are significant landmarks in their towns or cities, and reflect the influence of Masons at one time. Most are buildings built for e ...

in its earliest years. Starting in 1906, it operated in a smaller building (now destroyed), which served as its offices until it moved into its newly erected structure in 1926. During the early twentieth century, the influence of railroads and the oil industry caused Lima to be a very prosperous city. Many large buildings, including two skyscrapers, were built in the city's downtown; the majority of these new structures employed the Chicago Style of architecture. With the decline of the city's economy later in the century, the construction of large buildings in central Lima ceased — virtually all new construction took place in the city's outskirts or suburbs — thus making the First National Bank and Trust one of the newest major buildings in downtown Lima.Hopkins, Phyllis G. '.

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

, 1980-05-15. Accessed 2010-04-28. In recognition of its historic significance, the First National Bank and Trust 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 1982. It was one of seventeen Lima buildings that was added to the National Register as part of the "Lima Multiple Resource Area," a

Multiple Property Submission The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of Historic districts in the United States, districts, sites, buildings, struc ...

that concentrated on architecturally significant buildings in or near downtown Lima. Aside from its importance as a

historic site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

, the First National Bank and Trust Building plays a leading part in local

ornithology Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

: the building is a nesting site for

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...

s and is part of the Midwest Peregrine Falcon Restoration Project.

References

External links

{{National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Commercial buildings completed in 1926 Banks established in 1903 Defunct banks of the United States Buildings and structures in Lima, Ohio Limestone buildings in the United States Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Allen County, Ohio Bank buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Skyscrapers in Ohio 1903 establishments in Ohio Skyscraper office buildings in Ohio Chicago school architecture in Ohio