Frieze @ York Trust Company - York, PA - Frieze Art on Waymarking.com

I love this building. It is rather narrow, kind of cramped, but stretched up high, a little taller than two stories.. The building that was to its right is long gone; it is now an empty lot. The bank is located directly across the street from the old York County Court House and famous Civil War site.

One attractive feature is the entrance, replete with frieze art and intricate bordering. There are the dates 1890 - 1910 inscribed above the entrance and I have no idea what this refers to. The nomination form reports this building was erected in 1930. Between the dates is the largest frieze example, appearing in relief of the building, a beautiful, floral design of stone. Other types of borer relief from the entrance as well.

There are many other details which grabs ones attention, all typical of this Greek Revival craze that went on in the twenties and thirties. Camden and Philadelphia are chock full of identical banks, all either individual listing on the NRHP or contributing structures, like this one. The large pediment at the top will be the first detail to attract your attention. It is huge, has really cool dentils which frame it and other intricate designs on top of that. Inside the entablature (the supporting horizontal structure) is the name of the original company which owned the building York Trust Company, in huge letters.

Adoring both sides of this big stone block building are two enormous columns, set inside the building, raised on huge bases and beautiful capitals which mostly resemble the Doric order. It took 6 segments of turned block to create these columns. This is a true hallmark of Greek (and Roman) architecture. With the exception of a ramp added to the right side, and the glass doors, I would imagine this building has remained unchanged over the last eighty years.

The bank is a contributing structure to the surrounding historic district. The York Historic District Nomination and Inventory form is unique in that there are no narratives for the contributing structures, only abbreviations for basic information in various columns next to each individual listing. The form has all the contributing structures in a list, alphabetized by street name. Therefore, all descriptions within this waymark are done via waymarker observation (and rather crudely!). The nomination form was sent to me via electronic mail in PDF form by Christine H. Messing from the NR/NHL Archives (Christine_H_Messing@contractor.nps.gov). To read portions of the original nomination document without narratives go HERE. I did manage to learn from the brief mention of this site the bank was built in 1930, is two floors and is made of block. It is built in a Greek Revival style. Metered parking is available street side in front of the building.