Mechanics' Bank and Trust Company Building
Encyclopedia
The Mechanics' Bank and Trust Company Building is an office building located at 612 South Gay Street
in Knoxville, Tennessee
, USA. Built in 1907 for the Mechanics' Bank and Trust Company, the building now houses offices for several law firms and financial agencies. The building's facade was constructed with locally-quarried marble, and is designed in the Second Renaissance Revival style. In 1983, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places
for its architectural significance.
The Mechanics' National Bank was chartered in 1882, and moved into a building at what is now 612 South Gay that same year. Within a few months of opening, the bank's president, Thomas O'Connor, was killed in a notorious shootout. In 1907, after the bank reorganized as the Mechanics' Bank and Trust, it built the first three floors of the current Mechanics' Bank building. The Union National Bank absorbed Mechanics' Bank in 1922, and added the top two stories the following year. The building later housed a branch of the Hamilton National Bank (headquartered in the nearby Holston building). In the early 1980s, the building was home to the City and County Bank, part of the Butcher banking empire
, which collapsed in 1983 due to bank fraud.
) rectangular building that measures roughly 145 feet (44.2 m) by 32 feet (9.8 m). The building's facade (facing Gay Street) is constructed of locally-quarried Tennessee marble
, while the sides and rear of the building are constructed of brick and reinforced concrete. The building originally consisted of three floors and a mezzanine. In 1923, two more floors were added, with the builders carefully following the original design scheme. An elevator penthouse was added to the roof several decades later.
The design of the Mechanics' Bank building is derived from the Second Renaissance Revival style. Six Ionic capitals
span the building's three-bay main floor facade, with the middle two capitals resting atop marble columns that flank either side of the recessed entrance. A heavy cornice
separates the main floor facade from the facade of the upper floors. The main entrance is a high archway topped by a pediment
al hood. The central bay of the upper floors' facade is recessed, with balustrades
spanning the recess between the first and second floors and the third and fourth floors, and a stylized cornice with a central arm-and-hammer symbol (the Mechanics' Bank symbol) above the top floor.
The interior of the building has been extensively remodeled, although some original features remain. The building's entry foyer
contains pink marble walls, and two marble columns flank the lobby's central entrance. The lobby itself still retains some original marble wainscoting and plaster beams. Nine columns border the two-story lobby of the first floor suite with crown molding and a large mezzanine
above the original bank vault that has been remodeled and now serves the purpose of a kitchen.
and Charles McClung
for Blount College (now the University of Tennessee
) in the early 1790s. The Bank of Tennessee (1812–1828) was the first financial institution to occupy the site. During the Civil War
, this bank's building was used as an office by the Union Army
provost-marshal. The building was then occupied by First National Bank (1864–1872) and its successor, the East Tennessee National Bank (1872–1882).
(vice president), and Samuel House (cashier). In October 1882, O'Connor was killed in a shootout with Knoxville entrepreneur Joseph Mabry
that took place in front of the bank. The shootout, in which Mabry and his son were also killed, made national headlines, and was mentioned in Mark Twain
's book, Life on the Mississippi
.
After O'Connor's death, Sanford served as the bank's president until 1883, when Knoxville businessman and future mayor Samuel B. Luttrell (1844–1933) was named president. Luttrell remained president of the bank for several decades. In 1900, the book, Standard History of Knoxville, reported that the bank had assets of $100,000 in capital
, $110,000 in surplus, $500,000 in deposits, and $425,000 in loans and discounts.
In 1907, Mechanics' National Bank abandoned its national charter and reorganized as the state-chartered Mechanics' Bank and Trust Company, which built the current Mechanics' Bank and Trust Company Building. Mechanics' Bank was absorbed by Union National Bank in 1922, and Union National (which added the building's two top floors in 1923) was in turn absorbed by Holston-Union National Bank in 1928. After Holston-Union failed in 1930, it was replaced by the Hamilton National Bank, which operated a branch out of the Mechanics' Bank building for several decades.
, which was known for its promoter and host, Cas Walker
. The Everly Brothers were among the most well-known artists to perform regularly for the station during this period.
In the 1970s, banking entrepreneur Jake Butcher acquired control of Hamilton National Bank, and renamed it United American Bank. The Mechanics' Bank building then became a branch of the City and County Bank, headed by Butcher's brother, C. H. Butcher. In 1983, after federal investigators charged the Butcher brothers with bank fraud, the City and County Bank, along the other Butcher banks, collapsed. The building has since been renovated as an office building.
Gay Street (Knoxville)
Gay Street is a street in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, that traverses the heart of the city's downtown area. Since its development in the 1790s, Gay Street has served as the city's principal financial and commercial thoroughfare, and has played a primary role in the city's historical and cultural...
in Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
, USA. Built in 1907 for the Mechanics' Bank and Trust Company, the building now houses offices for several law firms and financial agencies. The building's facade was constructed with locally-quarried marble, and is designed in the Second Renaissance Revival style. In 1983, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
for its architectural significance.
The Mechanics' National Bank was chartered in 1882, and moved into a building at what is now 612 South Gay that same year. Within a few months of opening, the bank's president, Thomas O'Connor, was killed in a notorious shootout. In 1907, after the bank reorganized as the Mechanics' Bank and Trust, it built the first three floors of the current Mechanics' Bank building. The Union National Bank absorbed Mechanics' Bank in 1922, and added the top two stories the following year. The building later housed a branch of the Hamilton National Bank (headquartered in the nearby Holston building). In the early 1980s, the building was home to the City and County Bank, part of the Butcher banking empire
Jake Butcher
Jacob Franklin "Jake" Butcher was a U.S. banker and politician who built a financial empire in East Tennessee, was the Democratic Party nominee for governor of Tennessee in 1978 and the primary promoter of the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee, and who lost his business and his personal...
, which collapsed in 1983 due to bank fraud.
Design
The Mechanics Bank building is a six-story (five floors and a mezzanineMezzanine
Mezzanine may refer to:* Mezzanine , an intermediate floor between main floors of a building* Mezzanine, in technology, can refer to a thin sheet of plastic insulating different parts of circuitry from each other in cramped environments, such as laptop interiors* Mezzanine board, or daughterboard,...
) rectangular building that measures roughly 145 feet (44.2 m) by 32 feet (9.8 m). The building's facade (facing Gay Street) is constructed of locally-quarried Tennessee marble
Tennessee marble
Tennessee marble is a type of crystalline limestone found primarily in East Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. Long esteemed by architects and builders for its pinkish-gray color and the ease with which it is polished, this stone has been used in the construction of numerous notable...
, while the sides and rear of the building are constructed of brick and reinforced concrete. The building originally consisted of three floors and a mezzanine. In 1923, two more floors were added, with the builders carefully following the original design scheme. An elevator penthouse was added to the roof several decades later.
The design of the Mechanics' Bank building is derived from the Second Renaissance Revival style. Six Ionic capitals
Ionic order
The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
span the building's three-bay main floor facade, with the middle two capitals resting atop marble columns that flank either side of the recessed entrance. A heavy cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
separates the main floor facade from the facade of the upper floors. The main entrance is a high archway topped by a pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
al hood. The central bay of the upper floors' facade is recessed, with balustrades
Baluster
A baluster is a moulded shaft, square or of lathe-turned form, one of various forms of spindle in woodwork, made of stone or wood and sometimes of metal, standing on a unifying footing, and supporting the coping of a parapet or the handrail of a staircase. Multiplied in this way, they form a...
spanning the recess between the first and second floors and the third and fourth floors, and a stylized cornice with a central arm-and-hammer symbol (the Mechanics' Bank symbol) above the top floor.
The interior of the building has been extensively remodeled, although some original features remain. The building's entry foyer
Foyer
A foyer or lobby is a large, vast room or complex of rooms adjacent to the auditorium...
contains pink marble walls, and two marble columns flank the lobby's central entrance. The lobby itself still retains some original marble wainscoting and plaster beams. Nine columns border the two-story lobby of the first floor suite with crown molding and a large mezzanine
Mezzanine
Mezzanine may refer to:* Mezzanine , an intermediate floor between main floors of a building* Mezzanine, in technology, can refer to a thin sheet of plastic insulating different parts of circuitry from each other in cramped environments, such as laptop interiors* Mezzanine board, or daughterboard,...
above the original bank vault that has been remodeled and now serves the purpose of a kitchen.
History
Early history of the property
The land on which the Mechanics' Bank building is now situated (612 South Gay Street) was originally part of the property set aside by James WhiteJames White (general)
James White was an American pioneer and soldier who founded Knoxville, Tennessee, in the early 1790s. Born in Rowan County, North Carolina, White served as a captain in the county's militia during the American Revolutionary War...
and Charles McClung
Charles McClung
Charles McClung was an American pioneer, politician, and surveyor best known for drawing up the original plat of Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1791. While Knoxville has since expanded to many times its original size, the city's downtown area still roughly follows McClung's 1791 grid...
for Blount College (now the University of Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
) in the early 1790s. The Bank of Tennessee (1812–1828) was the first financial institution to occupy the site. During the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, this bank's building was used as an office by the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
provost-marshal. The building was then occupied by First National Bank (1864–1872) and its successor, the East Tennessee National Bank (1872–1882).
Mechanics' Bank and Trust
In 1882, the East Tennessee National Bank moved to a new building, and the Mechanics' National Bank, chartered that same year, moved into the older building at 612 Gay Street. The bank's first officers were Thomas O'Connor (president), Edward J. SanfordEdward J. Sanford
Edward Jackson Sanford was an American manufacturing tycoon and financier, active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the late 19th century...
(vice president), and Samuel House (cashier). In October 1882, O'Connor was killed in a shootout with Knoxville entrepreneur Joseph Mabry
Joseph Alexander Mabry, Sr.
Joseph Alexander Mabry, Jr. was an American folk figure and businessman active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the mid-nineteenth century. Mabry earned a fortune through land and railroad speculation during the 1850s, and was known throughout the South for his herd of race horses...
that took place in front of the bank. The shootout, in which Mabry and his son were also killed, made national headlines, and was mentioned in Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
's book, Life on the Mississippi
Life on the Mississippi
Life on the Mississippi is a memoir by Mark Twain, of his days as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River before the American Civil War, and also a travel book, recounting his trip along the Mississippi many years after the War....
.
After O'Connor's death, Sanford served as the bank's president until 1883, when Knoxville businessman and future mayor Samuel B. Luttrell (1844–1933) was named president. Luttrell remained president of the bank for several decades. In 1900, the book, Standard History of Knoxville, reported that the bank had assets of $100,000 in capital
Financial capital
Financial capital can refer to money used by entrepreneurs and businesses to buy what they need to make their products or provide their services or to that sector of the economy based on its operation, i.e. retail, corporate, investment banking, etc....
, $110,000 in surplus, $500,000 in deposits, and $425,000 in loans and discounts.
In 1907, Mechanics' National Bank abandoned its national charter and reorganized as the state-chartered Mechanics' Bank and Trust Company, which built the current Mechanics' Bank and Trust Company Building. Mechanics' Bank was absorbed by Union National Bank in 1922, and Union National (which added the building's two top floors in 1923) was in turn absorbed by Holston-Union National Bank in 1928. After Holston-Union failed in 1930, it was replaced by the Hamilton National Bank, which operated a branch out of the Mechanics' Bank building for several decades.
Later history
During the 1950s, the top floor of the Mechanics' Bank building hosted the studios of radio station WROL-AMWATE-TV
WATE-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Eastern Tennessee licensed to Knoxville. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 26 from a transmitter on Sharp's Ridge in North Knoxville. The station can also be seen on Charter channel 6 as well as Comcast and Knology...
, which was known for its promoter and host, Cas Walker
Cas Walker
Orton Caswell Walker , better known as Cas Walker, was a Tennessee businessman, politician, and personality on television and radio. Walker founded a successful chain of small grocery stores that grew to include several dozen stores scattered throughout the Knoxville, Tennessee vicinity as well as...
. The Everly Brothers were among the most well-known artists to perform regularly for the station during this period.
In the 1970s, banking entrepreneur Jake Butcher acquired control of Hamilton National Bank, and renamed it United American Bank. The Mechanics' Bank building then became a branch of the City and County Bank, headed by Butcher's brother, C. H. Butcher. In 1983, after federal investigators charged the Butcher brothers with bank fraud, the City and County Bank, along the other Butcher banks, collapsed. The building has since been renovated as an office building.
See also
- Fidelity BuildingFidelity Building (Knoxville)The Fidelity Building is an office building in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. Initially constructed in 1871 for the wholesale firm Cowan, McClung and Company, the building was home to Fidelity-Bankers Trust Company during the mid-twentieth century, and has since been renovated for use as office space...
- General BuildingGeneral BuildingThe General Building, also called the Tennessee General Building or the First Bank Building, is an office high-rise located in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. Constructed in the mid-1920s, the 15-story building is the only high-rise designed by Charles I...
- The HolstonThe HolstonThe Holston is a condominium high-rise located at 531 South Gay Street in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. Completed in 1913 as the headquarters for the Holston National Bank, the fourteen-story building was the tallest in Knoxville until the construction in the late 1920s of the Andrew Johnson Hotel,...
- Andrew Johnson BuildingAndrew Johnson BuildingThe Andrew Johnson Building is a high-rise office building in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. Completed in 1930, the structure was Knoxville's tallest building for nearly a half-century. The building was originally home to the Andrew Johnson Hotel, and is now used for office space by Knox...
External list
- Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection – Gay Street, ca. 1920 — photograph of Gay Street's 600 block, showing the Mechanics' Bank building prior to the 1923 additions (immediately left of the church)
- Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection – Bankers' Trust Company — circa-1923 photograph
- Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection – Tennessee Theatre exterior — circa 1930s photograph showing the Mechanics' Bank building (two buildings to the right of the theater)