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 National Bank Building - Fourth and Broadway Historic District - Pittsburg, Kansas Posted by:  iconions
N 37° 24.670 W 094° 42.275
15S E 349147 N 4141849
This three-story limestone building is located at 4th & Broadway in Pittsburg, Kansas.
Waymark Code: WM1500R
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 09/20/2021
Views: 0
This is a three-story, two-part commercial block with brick and stone walls. It was built as an opera house and office building in 1889, converted to a mixed-use office building in 1904, and remodeled to its current form in 1931. That remodel created a new central west side entry, which replaced the earlier corner entry. It occupies all of a rectangular lot at the northeast corner of Fourth and Broadway, and has two highly ornamented elevations. The narrow front wall faces west to Broadway, and the long south wall faces south to East Fourth Street. The west part of the building, which has always been used for offices and retail, has a flat roof. The east section, which originally contained the opera hall, has a low hipped roof.
The east end of the building retains a good deal of late nineteenth century detailing. A wide pressed metal cornice runs along most of the upper south wall and wraps around to the east and north walls. The brick east wall overlooks a narrow alley, and the north wall, which is stuccoed, overlooks a narrow paved lot. The south wall is topped by a large pediment that is constructed of the same type of pressed metal as the cornice. It projects out from the cornice line twelve to eighteen inches, with small brackets along its lower edge. The pediment is centered above a five tall shopfronts which fill the west end of the first floor. The storefront openings are all intact. They are topped by a long I-beam, and the individual bays are separated by ornamental cast iron piers. Each storefront bay contains a transom and display windows, and all but one has its own doorway. All or most of the storefront materials are modern. A wide formal entranceway which accesses an interior elevator and stair hall is located just west of the row of shopfronts. That doorway was remodeled to its current form ca. 1931; it is sheltered by a newer flat canopy. The upper walls of the south wall are lined with evenly spaced single masonry window openings. The third floor windows have round-arched tops, and those on the second floor have flat tops with tall splayed brick jack arches. Recessed spandrel panels below the third floor windows are ornamented with textured infill that appears to be made of terra cotta.
The west elevation exhibits changes that were made to the building in 1931. It is faced with smooth limestone sheathing and detailed with Classical Revival style features. The upper facade has a heavy molded stone cornice and a tall parapet wall. A raised center section on the stone parapet has a large date-stone which reads 1931. The second and third floors are filled with evenly space windows that have flat tops and shaped stone surrounds. A wide flat stone inset into the wall between the second and third floors has incised lettering which reads “THE NATIONAL BANK OF PITTSBURG”. The first floor of the Broadway elevation has three large bays that are separated by stone pilasters and topped by a tall molded stone cornice. The end bays are filled with ca. 1930s transoms and display windows, over tall stone bulkheads. The center bay, which was an oversized doorway into the late 1950s or 1960s, has newer infill. The styling of the facade is continued onto the front bay of the south wall, which has all the same detailing as the facade. That bay contains a smaller panel between the second and third floors, which reads “BANK”. All four walls of the building, including both stone and brick surfaces, have been painted off white.
- National Register Application
Historic Name: National Bank Building
Alternate Name: Rhodes Opera House
Historic Function: Commerce/Trade
Subcategory: Financial Institution
Historic Function Remarks: Also multiple specialty stores, offices, and an opera house.
2015 notes: The National Bank Building was built in 1889 at the corner of 4th and N. Broadway, a main intersection of downtown Pittsburg, Kansas. This large building housed the National Bank of Pittsburg, the Pittsburg Opera House and business and medical professionals. According to the online history page for the town, (pittsburgksmemories.com) the opera house was the first in Pittsburg and opened on the night of April 1, 1889, and remained in production for 15 years until May 4, 1904. City directories from 1882, 1890, 1901-1902, 1908-1909, 1919 list the National Bank of Pittsburg as being owned and operated by the Lanyon family, who also owned other business in the area including a zinc smelting company. The bank continued to be listed in city directories until the 1980s. The building was remodeled for offices ca. 1905 and housed medical professionals, insurance companies and multiple coal companies, a large industry in the Pittsburg area. The online history page describes a ladies lounge that was opened in the basement the week of July, 4 of 1911, providing a place of rest, out of the weather, for women visiting the downtown area. In 1931 the original façade, built in the late Victorian style, was remodeled on the west wall. This included the removal of a turret from the southwest corner and the addition of brickwork that gave the west side a look consistent with the early 20th Century Classical Revival style. Professionals in the medical and commerce field continued to occupy the offices in the National Bank building into the 1980s, until the number of occupants reduced to a smaller number by the turn of the 20th century.
Present Function: Domestic
Subcategory: Multiple Dwelling
Present Function Remarks: As of 2018, the building became part of Pittsburg State University student housing, known as Block 22.
Residential/Commercial/Religious Style: Late 19th & 20th Century Classical Revival
Secondary Style: Italianate
Physical Description/Remarks: 2015 desc.: This is a 3 story, two-part commercial block building with a west elevation that faces N. Broadway and a long south elevation that faces East 4th Street. The west half of the building has a flat roof with a parapet and the east half has a hipped gabled roof. The west elevation has a stone block façade and late 19th and 20th Century Classical Revival features of pilasters at the first floor, cornices with classic detail, and symmetrically set windows with shaped stone reveals. This façade was added ca. 1931. The south wall reflects the original construction of the late Victorian style. Several openings for storefronts are at the northeast corner of the building. Symmetrically set window are both squared and arched, and a pressed metal cornice and gutter system spans the south wall and wraps around the east and north wall. A large pediment at the roof has a decorative fanned ray pattern. The south wall is brick and has been painted a light color to match the stone of the west elevation.
Plan Form: Rectangle
Commercial Building Type: Two-Part Commercial Block
Roof Form: Flat with Parapet
Stories: 3
Condition: Good
Principal Material: Brick
Condition Remarks: Stone veneer at facade. Oriel window removed between 1905-1913; complete design changes to facade occurred in 1931.
Many of the interior finishes and offices on the upper floor are highly intact and in fair to good condition (2015).
Architect/Designer/Builder: Unknown
Year of Construction: 1889
Date Notes: Built between 1885 & 1892, according to Sanborns opened in March 1889. New facade ca. 1931.
- Kansas Historic Resource Inventory
Name of Historic District (as listed on the NRHP): Fourth and Broadway Historic District
Link to nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com page with the Historic District: [Web Link]
Address:
105 East Fourth Street
Pittsburg, Kansas 66762
How did you determine the building to be a contributing structure?: Narrative found on the internet (Link provided below)
Optional link to narrative or database: [Web Link]
NRHP Historic District Waymark (Optional): Not listed
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