Morris County State Bank - Council Grove KS
Posted by: 
PeterNoG
N 38° 39.673 W 096° 29.429
14S E 718351 N 4282170
This National Register of Historic Place is on the northeast corner of West Main Street at Neosho Street in Council Grove, Kansas.
Waymark Code: WMKW7F
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 06/02/2014
Views: 4
This is listed as 'Council Grove National Bank aka Morris County State Bank' but I'll use 'Morris County State Bank' since that is the name on the building.
After a bad fire destroyed their rented premises and six other building in Sept. 1886, the Morris County State Bank commissioned architect J. H. Leedy of Council Grove and contractor & builder Louis Peterson also of Council Grove for a new building which was started in Oct. and completed by April 28, 1887.
The 25-foot wide building has two stories with a basement and is a fine example of Western commercial architecture influenced by the High Victorian Italianate style. The total cost of the building and lot was only $15,000.
Besides the bank, the building had a barber shop in the basement, a land office in the rear of the main floor, and offices for doctors and attorneys on the second floor.
In 1900, the bank secured a national charter and the name was changed to Council Grove National Bank. The building served the Bank until a 1978 fire damaged it. Current tenants include a law office and the Heart of the Flint Hills Chapter of the Santa Fe Trail Association.
~ description of the building from the nomination papers (visit link) ~The main entrance to the bank addresses the corner and is at an angle to the front and side facades. It has a double wood door with two transoms and is framed by two Corinthian columns on raised octagonal bases. These columns support a projection of the entablature separating the first and second story windows. This terra cotta entablature has been highly embellished having a corona supported by modillions underneath which are a talon molding and a plain frieze. The projection of the entablature over the main entrance has been emphasized by a decorative iron balustrade. The second story window has been placed just slightly above the entablature. The window has been decorated with columns supporting a terra cotta plate that: covers the ?rch and spandrels. The archivolt is indicated and a series of rosettes rune across the indication of the arch. The spandrels are decorated with abstract: vegetative forms. The windows are plate glass and set in wooden frames. This decorative window treatment is repeated across the triple window on the second story of the south facade. The three windows on the first story and basement align with those on the second story. The windows on the first story are separated by Corinthian columns and the outer windows have transoms. There are vegetative carvings below the sills of the outer windows and on either side of the window grouping. The entablature is ended on the brick pier to the east side of this facade by a terra cotta ornament formed from two brackets supporting a finial.
The building is crowned with an entablature which has brackets that extend through the frieze and support a talon molding arc! corona. The frieze is decorated with vegetative forms. An open balustrade above the cornice has piers capped with finials that correspond to the vertical lines set up by the window columns. The balustrade becomes solid over the main entrance and the finials are larger. The open balustrade is continued through the first bay of the west facade.
The first bay of the west facade repeats the motifs used across the front of the building. Single windows on each floor have been aligned. This bay is ended with a brick pier where an ornament similar to the one used on the south facade ends the entablature which separates the first and second stories. The line set up by this entablature is continued down the west facade by a strip of terra cotta molding. There are recessed brick panels on each story next to the brick pier. There are three double windows and an entrance on the first story of this facade. The four windows on the second story have been centered over each opening. Each window on the first story is plate glass with wood frames and a transom and has a limestone lintel and sill. Aligned below these windows are the basement windows which are separated by limestone piers. The entranceway is arched with stone voussoirs while the actual doorway is recessed. Above the decorated spandrels are two rows of a checkerboard pattern formed by alternating different colored blocks. The windows on the second story are also plate glass with wood frames and have segmental arches. The lintels are delicately detailed terra cotta with a keystone. The sills have been made of limestone. The interior details including the inside window and door frames and the wainscoting were finished in walnut.