The Old Bank of Louisville, also known historically as the Southern National Bank building, is a historic commercial building at 316 West Main Street in downtown

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. Completed in 1837, it was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1971 for its exceptionally fine Greek Revival architecture. It currently serves as the lobby for the adjacent Actors Theatre of Louisville.

Description and history

The Old Bank of Louisville is located in downtown Louisville, on the south side of West Main Street between 3rd and 4th Streets. Occupying a relatively narrow lot, its facade consists of a pair of fluted stone columns topped by Ionic capitals and set ''

in antis An anta (pl. antæ, antae, or antas; Latin, possibly from ''ante'', "before" or "in front of"), or sometimes parastas (pl. parastades), is an architectural term describing the posts or pillars on either side of a doorway or entrance of a Greek ...

'' beneath an entablature and iron crested parapet. The flanking

antae The Antes, or Antae ( gr, Ἄνται), were an early East Slavic tribal polity of the 6th century CE. They lived on the lower Danube River, in the northwestern Black Sea region (present-day Moldova and central Ukraine), and in the regions aro ...

are, like the columns, fashioned from limestone, but with a battered finish. Behind the columns is a three-bay facade, with tall multipane windows flanking and rising above the center entrance. The interior retains some original finishes, notably including Ionic columns and a domed ceiling. The building was probably completed in 1837, for the Bank of Louisville, which had been chartered in 1832. It was probably designed by

James Dakin James Harrison Dakin (August 24, 1806 – May 13, 1852), American architect . Best known for his Neo-Gothic style. Best known as Architect of the Old Louisiana State Capitol, Old Bank of Louisville, and other public buildings. Early life Dakin w ...

, an architect who had worked with

Minard Lafever Minard Lafever (1798–1854) was an American architect of churches and houses in the United States in the early nineteenth century. Life and career Lafever began life as a carpenter around 1820. At this period in the United States there were no ...

, including the preparation of drawings for Lafever's ''The Beauties of Modern Architecture'', published in 1835. Several of the building's features appear to be derived from plates found in that book.

Gideon Shryock Gideon Shryock (November 15, 1802 – June 19, 1880) was Kentucky's first professional architect in the Greek Revival Style. His name has frequently been misspelled as Gideon Shyrock. Biography Shryock was born in Lexington, Kentucky on Novembe ...

, who was long thought to be its designer, apparently served as its construction superintendent. After serving for many years as a bank, the building was converted in the 1970s to serve as a lobby space for the adjacent theater.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places 19th-century buildings and structures in Louisville, Kentucky National Register of Historic Places in Louisville, Kentucky Commercial buildings completed in 1837 Commercial buildings in Louisville, Kentucky Bank buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky National Historic Landmarks in Kentucky