First National Bank Building (also known as the Old First and Merchants National Bank Building and BB&T Bank Building) is a historic

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

and high-rise

office An office is a space where an Organization, organization's employees perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize objects and Goals, plans, action theory, goals of the organizati ...

building located at 823 East Main Street in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. It was designed by architect

Alfred Bossom Alfred Charles Bossom, Baron Bossom GCStJ FRIBA (6 October 1881 – 4 September 1965) was an architect in the United States who returned to his native England and became a Conservative Party politician. He also wrote books on architecture. ...

and built in 1912–1913. It is a 19-story, four bay by five bay,

Classical Revival Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

style steel frame building clad in brick,

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 ...

, and

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

. The building features rich architectural ornament that follows the

Corinthian order The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...

both within and without. It was the first high-rise office tower to be built in Richmond. an
''Accompanying photo''
/ref> The First & Merchants Bank would eventually become

Sovran Bank Sovran Bank was a US-based regional bank that operated in Virginia between 1983 and 1990, and was the leading subsidiary of Sovran Financial Corporation. It was itself a product of a merger between ''First & Merchants Bank'' of Richmond and ''Vir ...

. It 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 is located in the

Main Street Banking Historic District The Main Street Banking Historic District is a national historic district located in downtown Richmond, Virginia. The district encompasses 19 contributing buildings located south of the Virginia State Capitol and west of the Shockoe Slip Histor ...

References

External links

First National Apartments
Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Neoclassical architecture in Virginia Skyscrapers in Richmond, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Richmond, Virginia Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Virginia 1913 establishments in Virginia Skyscraper office buildings in Virginia Office buildings completed in 1913 {{RichmondCityVA-NRHP-stub

See also

References

External links