State National Bank Building - Corsicana Commercial Historic District - Corsicana, TX
Posted by: 
WalksfarTX
N 32° 05.635 W 096° 27.823
14S E 739355 N 3553661
A 1926 eight story Gothic Revival designed by H.O. Blanding and C.D. Hill & Company. Built by Walker Construction Company.
Waymark Code: WMXK4B
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/22/2018
Views: 0
NRHP Nomination Form
With its origins in a small trading company founded by leaders of the local Jewish community, the State National Bank evolved into one of Corsicana's primary financial institutions. Louis Cerf (1846-1917) and Edmund Raphael (1851-1927) slowly expanded their grocery business to offer banking services, with Cerf's son Isaac eventually assuming an active role in running the enterprise.
The newly chartered State National Bank absorbed their operation in 1917, with B.B. Munsey, G.C. Dunn, P.D. Williams, and E.L. Dupuy serving as officers for the organization. Isaac Cerf succeeded Munsey as president in 1926, the year the bank moved into this 8-story facility in the midst of an oil-related economic boom.
Commissioned to symbolize the bank's financial status, the tallest building in the city featured terra cotta detailing executed in the Gothic Revival style. Banking facilities occupied the ground floor, with private offices for lawyers, doctors, and other businesses housed on the upper floors.
Walker Construction Company of San Antonio erected the building based on plans by architects H.O. Blanding of Corsicana and CD. Hill & Company of Dallas. Relatively unaltered, this building remains an important physical and business landmark as the finest example of Gothic Revival architecture in the community.