First National Bank - New Roads, LA
N 30° 41.583 W 091° 26.033
15R E 649997 N 3396631
Also known as Hebert's Jewelry. Location is 102 E. Main St., New Roads, LA. Now an Edward Jones financial center.
Waymark Code: WM4VRF
Location: Louisiana, United States
Date Posted: 10/02/2008
Views: 8
Fine nice clean structure. Was able to walk up to and around building. Located on a public street with shops and resturants in area.
Here is a brief history, fron website listed
Here
The former First National Bank of New Roads (1909) is a two-story brick building in the Classical
Revival style. It stands at a busy intersection of Main Street within the central business district of the
Pointe Coupee Parish seat of New Roads. The thoroughfare parallels False River, a large ox bow lake
which was formerly a part of the Mississippi River. The bank stands on the lake-side of Main Street, with
its rear elevation facing the water. Despite some alteration, the building easily retains its National
Register eligibility.
The bank is a free-standing structure except on its rear elevation, where a small one-story
historic-era addition (see below) shares a wall with a slightly taller structure never associated with the
candidate. As a corner building, the bank was designed to be viewed at an angle, with the facade and
one side elevation highly styled. The façade's Classical decorative elements, all made of stone, include a
watertable, quoins, belt course, large keystones above most windows, pronounced lintels, and an
elaborate door surround. The latter is composed of Tuscan columns and a heavily molded broken
pediment. A vertical element composed of four pieces connects each column to the pediment. The parts
include two molded square bases (the upper smaller than the lower), a large block containing triglyphs,
and a wooden piece in a geometric shape. The pediment is surmounted by a decorative motif containing
three parts. The lower two elements are stacked rectangles which serve as a base for the upper element,
a semi-circular piece with an anthemion design. The entrance surround frames a glazed double door
surmounted by a semi-circular transom. A brick band broken by a stone keystone outlines the transom's
rounded portion. A raised brick plaque is found between the façade's two upper floor windows. Finally, a
metal modillion cornice completes the façade's decoration. Most of the façade's decorative elements are
repeated on the side elevation. In addition, this area is pierced by three large, slightly recessed arched
windows (also a Classical motif) and a single door on the lower level and by five rectangular windows on
the upper story.
The First National Bank of New Roads opened in 1905 in a previously existing building and
constructed its new headquarters in 1909 at a cost of $7,200. Unfortunately, the business failed in 1912
and a competitor, the Bank of New Roads, soon moved into the former FNB building. The Bank of New
Roads moved out in 1928, selling the building to jeweler Oscar Hebert. Hebert's Jewery operated there
for the next fifty years, closing in 1998. In 1934 Hebert allowed the rear first floor room to be used as a
community library; the length of this usage is unclear. The upstairs offices were used by doctors,
dentists, and lumber and cotton buyers. Current owner is gradually restoring the building.
The first floor is occupied by a branch of the Edward Jones Investments firm.