The First National Bank is a historic commercial building in
Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston (; ) is the List of municipalities in Maine, second most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine, with the city's population at 37,121 as of the 2020 United States census. The city lies halfway between Augusta, Maine, Augusta, the sta ...
. Built about 1903 for the city's first chartered bank, it is a fine local example of French-inspired Classical Revival architecture. The building was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1986.
Description and history
The First National Bank building is located on the south side of Main Street (
United States Route 202
U.S. Route 202 (US 202) is a spur route of US 2. It follows a northeasterly and southwesterly direction stretching from Delaware in the south to Maine in the north and traveling through the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ne ...
) in downtown Lewiston, marking the end of a block of brick and masonry buildings at the junction of Main and Lisbon Streets. It is a three-story building with brick walls and cast stone trim. The main facade is four bays wide, with a first floor of modernized storefronts. The bays of the upper floors are demarcated by fluted Doric pilasters, with th esecond-floor windows having square hooded trim, and the third floor windows having segmented-arch lintels. The pilasters support an entablature, above which a modillioned and dentillated cornice projects. The third floor windows have wrought iron balconies supported by cast stone brackets.
The Lewiston Falls Bank, later the First National Bank, was founded in 1852, and was instrumental in financing the growth of Lewiston's textile mills in the period before the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. This building, whose architect is unknown, was built for the institution about 1903. When it was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1986, it was occupied by the bank's successor, Norstar Bank.
[ The building presently houses other retail and commercial businesses.
]
See also
*
References
{{National Register of Historic Places
Bank buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
Buildings and structures in Lewiston, Maine
National Register of Historic Places in Lewiston, Maine