The Lewiston Trust and Safe Deposit Company is a historic commercial building at 46 Lisbon Street in

Lewiston, Maine Lewiston (; ; officially the City of Lewiston, Maine) is List of cities in Maine, the second largest city in Maine and the most central city in Androscoggin County, Maine, Androscoggin County. The city lies halfway between Augusta, Maine, August ...

. Built in 1898, it is one of the least-altered designs of the important local architectural firm Coombs, Gibbs & Wilkinson. Its only significant alterations were in 1926 and the 1940s, when it served as a retail space occupied by Grant's Clothing for many years. The 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 1986. It continues to house retail and other commercial tenants.

Description and history

The Lewiston Trust and Safe Deposit Company building is located on the east side of Lisbon Street, Lewiston's principal downtown commercial street, between Main and Ash Streets. It is a three-story

masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...

structure, with party walls directly abutting the neighboring buildings. Its facade is ashlar granite, with quoined corners and a metal cornice. Its ground floor retail space has a Moderne style recessed entrance with flanking display areas set with black panels above and below, and is topped by a projecting triangular-fronted marquee. The second floor has four sash windows set in round-arch openings. The third floor has a grouping of five narrower windows, with

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s separating the windows of the group and an entablature above. The Lewiston Trust Company commissioned the construction of this building in 1898, and occupied it until 1921, when it moved to larger quarters across the street. The building was purchased in 1926 by W. Grant, owner of a clothing store. He made alterations to the interior to accommodate the retail function, but retained significant architectural elements, including marble flooring and stairs, basement level waiting rooms, and the bank president's office on the second floor, which has rich decorative woodwork. The building design was the work of Harry Wilkinson, then in partnership with George Coombs and Eugene Gibbs. Of the many local designs of this prolific firm, it is one of the least-altered and best-preserved.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Commercial buildings completed in 1898 Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Buildings and structures in Lewiston, Maine 1898 establishments in Maine National Register of Historic Places in Lewiston, Maine

Description and history

See also

References