The First National Bank is a historic bank building in downtown
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
,
Utah
Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
, United States, that is 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 ...
(NRHP).
Description
The building is a 3-story commercial building designed by Thomas J. Thomson and
Richard M. Upjohn and constructed in 1873. Originally four stories, the building lost its top floor to fire in 1875. The building has one of only two cast iron facades in the city, the other visible at the
Z.C.M.I. Building. The First National Bank was added to the NRHP May 24, 1976.
[ With ]
Early history
Construction began on the First National Bank building in 1872 after demolition of the Commerce Building on East Temple Street. East Temple Street was renamed Main Street in 1906. The building featured a cast iron facade that was assembled as quickly as it arrived. Bank president Warren Hussey became the sole owner of the building and the bank in December, 1872. The building opened in September, 1873.
An early description of the building and its ornate decorations was printed in ''
The Daily Graphic
''The Daily Graphic: An Illustrated Evening Newspaper'' was the first American newspaper with daily illustrations. It was founded in New York City in 1873 by Canadian engravers George-Édouard Desbarats and William Leggo, and began publicati ...
'':
''The Salt Lake Herald'' offered similar descriptions of the beautiful new building,
[ but its opening coincided with the ]Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the "L ...
, and depositors remained skeptical. Almost immediately the bank suspended payment on checks, citing a lack of currency. Reopening a month later, the bank operated for a year, and it soon received $30,000 in currency. However, the bank closed in November, 1874, and its building became the property of the Walker Brothers. John C. Ball was appointed receiver.
Deseret National Bank opened temporary offices in the building in June, 1875. In November a fire destroyed the top floor and damaged adjacent buildings.
See also
*
References
External links
{{National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places in Salt Lake City
Commercial buildings completed in 1873