First National Bank - Telluride, CO - Converted Bank Buildings on Waymarking.com

This striking building is on Telluride's main street, Colorado Avenue. The building has housed the Nugget Theater since 1935. The attached historic plaque reads as follows:

OUR FIRST NATIONAL BANK BUILDING

The First National Bank Building, home of the Nugget Theater since 1935, occupies a prominent role in Telluride's history. The building was completed in 1892 by Lucien Lucius Nunn, the father of alternating current. Nunn commissioned well-known Denver architect James Murdoch to work on the design of the building-a building that would house the First National Bank, as well as the Telluride Power Company.

L.L. Nunn purchased the land for $1,800 and began construction of the native red sandstone building in 1891. The building is a fine representation of the Richardsonian Romanesque style of architecture which typically included rugged stone masonry, large arches, and imaginative towers.

Some of the architectural features of this building include a tower with a pyramidal roof that stood higher than the Courthouse tower, semi--circular sandstone arches surrounding the second story windows, polished imported red granite columns at the corner entryway and stained glass windows that flank the northeast corner doors. In the large corner portion of the building you can see the original vault complete with a time lock as well as the bank's original tin ceiling. Inside the Colorado Avenue entry, the original grand staircase leading to the second floor still exists.

In 2000, the building received the coveted Save America's Treasures grant. The federal Save America's Treasures grants are administered by the National Park Service, and allocate money only to nationally significant historic structures and sites. For the year 2000, the grant was one of forty seven issued nationwide and the only grant issued to the state of Colorado, verifying the national historic significance of this building.

Town of Telluride; Telluride Historic Museum; Colorado Historical Society State Historical Fund

Address: 201 W. Colorado Ave Telluride, CO 81435 USA Year: 1891 Website: [Web Link] Current Use of Building: Nugget Theater

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