The Bassett and Bassett Banking House of 1873 is a 3rd c. 1900 three-story, commercial building of masonry, designed in the Italianate style. Door and window openings with round arches and stucco hood moldings occur throughout the exterior, including the third story which was added in the early 20th century.
The Bassett and Bassett Banking House has features characteristic of the late l9th century Italianate style. This architectural style is especially manifested through the use of stucco window and door caps, projecting plaster covered brick pilasters, and brick stringcourses that accent the three different floor levels.
Brick for the building was manufactured at the Wild and Company plant in Brenham. The exterior walls are load bearing, while wooden floors and masonry walls are found within. At ground level the perimeter walls are approximately 16 in. thick. There are eight windows on the ground floor, and 11 each on the second and third floors. All windows have one-over-one lights. There are four entrances. The principal one is a double door placed in the chamfered northeast corner of the bank building at the intersection of Main and Market streets. The other three are narrow single doors, one fronting Main Street on the north elevation, and two situated side by side near the chamfered back corner of the east elevation.
In the early l906s, the A.D. Milroys added the third floor and an additional bay on the south end. Other changes include a second stairway and a small elevator. Visually, the alterations did not destroy the simple lines of the originally two-story building.
Interior spaces were originally designed into two major functions. On the first floor was banking, and on the second, law offices. With the early 1900 alterations, the second floor was converted to a private residence and the third floor became offices. After the bank closed in 1884, the first floor was used for various commercial purposes.
The finely decorated original vault door is still intact, with "Bassett and Bassett Banking House" inscribed in gold gilt. Both panels of the door are adorned, the top with an attractive landscape scene and the bottom with a lovely flower. The vault door is situated towards the main entrance on the first floor.
The building has recently been renovated, with the exterior plaster being repaired along with the windows. The interior has had its mechanical systems concealed, and the original banking offices on the first floor have been cleared of later additions.
The Bassett and Bassett Banking House and Law Office building is one of the most significant structures, architecturally, in the commercial center of Brenham. It was constructed as the office of one of the town's earliest banks. The building survives as an important part of Brenham's heritage, and its recent renovation insures its preservation for the future.
By virtue of its siting, with three street elevations, the Bassett and Bassett Banking House is one of the more distinctive commercial buildings in Brenham. The building was fortunately well preserved, and care was taken when the third floor was added to insure that it would conform to the original design in materials and detailing. The Italianate style is not common in Brenham, making this structure an important architectural specimen in the community.
Benjamin Henry and Thomas Jefferson Bassett, the founders of the bank, were originally from Louisiana. By the mid-1860s, they were well established in Brenham. During the Civil War, Benjamin served as a captain in the Confederate service, and Thomas was a deputy clerk for Washington County. General John Sayles was the Bassetts' law partner, and a prominent landowner living in nearby Gay Hill.
On January 2, 1858, the Bassett brothers purchased the property for their banking house from Frank Hubert. The Bassett and Bassett Banking House itself was organized in 1866, the same year as the other major Brenham bank of the period, the Giddings and Giddings Bank. These two institutions were privately owned and were unchartered. Constructed by the Wild and Company Brickyard, the new banking house was proclaimed "one of the most tasty and valuable business houses in town" by the Brenham Banner of August 16, 1873. The Bassett Banking House and Law Office opened for business in November, 1873. Though the bank closed in 1884, the law practice of Sayles and Bassett, as well as other commercial ventures, continued operations in the building.
Upon Thomas' death on May 25, 1884, his wife inherited an undivided half interest in the Banking House and Law Office structure and property. She later remarried to W.W. Lee of Dallas County, and sold her interest to one J. Blackburn. In 1906, Mrs. Sallie B. Milroy, in two transactions, acquired the structure. After making additions and alterations to the building, Mrs. Milroy and her husband began their residency on the second floor of the structure. Since the death of Dorothy Burton, granddaughter of the Milroys, the Banking House building has changed ownership many times. Eugene Miller is the current owner, having acquired the building on December 1, 1980. BIBLIOGRAPHY Marcus Whiffen, American Architecture Since 1780: A Guide to Styles, MJJ Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1969. Brenham Banner: May 3, May 17, November1, May 10, and August 16, 1873.
(SOURCE: Texas Historic Sites Atlas - Texas Historic Commission
(
visit link) )