Exchange National Bank Building - Ardmore, OK
N 34° 10.375 W 097° 07.754
14S E 672422 N 3782909
Eagles complement a beehive on the frieze work on the 1929 Exchange National Bank building at 101 W Main St, Ardmore, OK. Today, Advance Loan occupies the building.
Waymark Code: WM11RHB
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 12/10/2019
Views: 2
The artwork is simple but impressive. It features a beehive -- note the floral detail -- flanked by palm leaves, with an interesting banner across the bottom, and an eagle on each side.
The Exchange National Bank and Trust Company was established in 1917, as noted on the parapet, which also references the year that this building was constructed, 1929. They were active until 1998, building upon numerous acquisitions, and days just before their 81st anniversary, they were absorbed by BancFirst. Their brand name is no longer in use.
This is a contributing building to the Ardmore Historic Commercial District on the National Register of Historic Places, and their Registration Form (see Web URL, below) acknowledges the "1929" on the parapet, and provides some background:
This two-story corner building has a flat roof which is faced with gray granite and the A Street Northwest façade is similar to Main Street although with regularly spaced paired two-over-two, double-hung windows. The roof line has a peak projection above triple double-hung, one-over-one windows. These second story windows are slightly recessed in the façade with a frieze below. The street level façade is modified with a store front pattern of recessed entry glazed metal door with side lights and overhead glass panel. The metal frame display windows have Vitrolite type glass panels in the bulkhead area and additional metal frame display windows which have been added to the A Street façade. The transom area is visible and the entry way has a patterned terrazzo floor. Decorative modernistic Art Deco details include the frieze with eagles, palm leaves and a bee hive, and the decorative date panels have "1917" and "1929" near the roof line.