This is the former location for the Lawrence City Hall - there is no signage on the building as it has been converted to a Community Museum in 1970. From the National Register application:
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"The two and one half story Watkins National Bank building has a combination hip and gable roof with three dormers, on each side, a small dormer, on the back, and a large one in the front. The second story is penetrated with many evenly spaced windows with a single continuous stone sill to strengthen the horizontal movement. The first story is plain with its arched windows making no significant impression, A strong horizontal line is produced by a wide band of contrasting rough-cut stone which pulls the eye around the building to the dominant feature, the massive semi-circular stone archway entrance. The half floor below the stone line is plain with uninteresting windows and no ornamentation.
The building measures 75 feet by 117 feet and has foundations which measure 12 feet across at the lowest point and taper up to the required basement wall thickness. The exterior plan is symmetrical about the longitudinal axis except for the archway. This single exception again tends to emphasize the importance of the entrance.
The Watkins National Bank building was erected in 1887 for a Lawrence financier, Jabez_B. Watkins. Watkins moved to Lawrence in 1873 and established himself as a lawyer and loan agent. He successfully solicited funds in the east to lend to farmers in Kansas and surrounding states. His company was incorporated in l883 as the J. B. Watkins Land Mortgage Company with branch offices in London, New York City, Dallas, and Lake Charles, La. This company was one of the largest of its kind.
The second floor of the Watkins Building served as the home office of the mortgage company, and in 1888 the Watkins National Bank was established on the ground floor. Watkins also owned a local newspaper, the Lawrence Record, and controlled the Lawrence Canning Company, said to be the largest vegetable cannery west of Baltimore, Md. .
The economic depression of the early 1890's brought disaster to many mortgage companies, and Watkins' firm went into receivership in 1894. The building continued to serve the Watkins bank until it was left vacant by a bank merger in 1929. Mrs. J. B. Watkins then donated the building to the city of Lawrence, which used it as the City Hall until 1970.
Presently city officials and citizens interested in the building's preservation are searching for a way in which the building may continue to serve the community.
The Watkins National Bank building is a classic example of the Romanesque influence on Kansas buildings."
Information on the City of Lawrence from Wikipedia:
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"Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County. Located 25 miles east of Topeka, Kansas, and 41 miles west of Kansas City, Missouri, it is situated along the banks of the Kansas and Wakarusa Rivers. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 87,643. Lawrence is a college town and is the home to the University of Kansas and Haskell Indian Nations University.
Lawrence was founded by the New England Emigrant Aid Company and was named for Amos Adams Lawrence who offered financial aid and support for the settlement. Lawrence was central to the Bleeding Kansas era and was the site of the Wakarusa War, the sacking of Lawrence and Quantrill's Raid.
Lawrence had its beginnings as a center of Kansas politics, though its economy soon diversified into many industries including agriculture, manufacturing, and ultimately education, beginning with the founding of the University of Kansas in 1866, and later Haskell Indian Nations University in 1884.
Lawrence has been named one of the best places to retire by U.S. News & World Report and one of America's 10 best college towns by Parents & Colleges."