Andrew Jackson Davis & Samuel Hauser, owners of the First National Bank of Butte, hired noted architects Link & Haire, who at the time had offices in Butte and Helena, to design their new bank building. Quite obviously designed to house a bank, the building was embellished sufficiently to instill a sense of permanence and security in those who found a need to enter. The corners of both street facing elevations (and running down the side of the long dimension of the building) are propped by Ionic styled pilasters, complete with quoins on their edges. Windows on the façade are also quoined, this accomplished with buff colored sandstone or freestone casements, this stone appearing in several places on the building. Above is a finely crafted cornice with a pressed metal eave below which is a row of closely spaced dentils and further below a row of more widely spaced dentils. Windows on the façade all have ogee shaped keystones. Amongst all the stonework, the major veneer is of grey brick.
The main entrance is especially attractive, surrounded by boatloads of carved and decorated stone. The door frame is of segments of polished stone, possibly granite, each with chainwork of medallions down its centre, together forming a long chain. Outboard of these are fluted pilasters of the same material, each with scrolled capitals and bases. The capitals are further expanded to appear as brackets. Over the entrance is a Greek Revival portico with still more decorated stone running around its inside and lower edge. Another matching ogee keystone is seen in the doorway's header. Centered in the brickwork above the entrance is a large square shield, again with an ogee keystone, in which is a smaller shield in the shape of a stylized scroll, bearing the year of organization of the bank, 1877. Though the double doors are of wood, and quite attractive, they are not likely the original doors.
Newspapers must have loved banks back in the day because they ran lots of ads, each one attempting to get all the money for themselves. Butte's First National Bank placed this ad on Page 15 of the May 10, 1917 edition of
Butte Daily Post.
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Farmer, trader, and grist mill operator Andrew Jackson Davis, reportedly Montana’s first millionaire, founded the First National Bank in partnership with influential politician Samuel T. Hauser in 1877. Upon Davis’ death in 1890, a nephew of the same name took over banking operations. The younger Davis planned new quarters commensurate with the bank’s dignified status. Prominent architects Link and Haire designed the new Greek Revival style building, completed in 1909 and enlarged in 1915. Square classical lines, ornately carved stone, and decorative terra cotta highlight this well-preserved landmark.
From the NRHP plaque at the building