Ca. 1920.
Two-story yellow brick building with limestone detailing. Storefront piers and lintel are limestone. Three bays at second story with limestone trim and shelf architraves supported by by brackets on all windows. Denticulated cornice.
Photo from 1987.
Ca. 1920.
Two-story smooth stone-faced building designed in concert with adjacent State Trust Bank. Swags and shields in relief on panels above 2nd floor windows. Modern storefront.
HISTORIC MARKER PLACED 2009
Ewbank & Ewbank Building
1923
Built by Ernest Lucas Ewbank and sons Frank and Harry, this building served as the Ewbank family’s insurance and real estate business and other offices until 2004. Designed by prominent local architect Erle Stillwell.
Photo from 1987.
First Bank & Trust Company
1923.
Three-story yellow brick building with Neo-Classical limestone detailing, including pilasters and terra cotta ornamentation. Pilasters support limestone entablature above second story windows. All windows and doors modern. Simple, classical limestone enframement surrounds entrance. Designed by Erle Stillwell for First Bank and Trust; later owned by State Trust which merged with Northwestern in 1958.
Historical Marker placed 2009
FIRST BANK & TRUST CO. 1922
Built as a bank, it operated until 11.20.1930 when it closed. Reorganized by local investors, it reopened 2 weeks later as State Trust Co., merged later with Northwestern Bank, then First Union Bank until 1998. Designed by prominent local architect Erle Stillwell.
State Trust Company & Citizens Bank
1923.
Two-story stone-faced, monumental Neo-Classical Revival style bank designed by Erle Stillwell. Entrance deeply recessed under entablature supported by doric columns. Built to house Citizens Bank, the structure also has served as State Trust and, more recently, Bank of North Carolina.
Historical Marker placed 2009
CITIZENS NATIONAL BANK 1921
Built as a bank at a cost of $125,000, it operated until 11.20.1930 when it closed. Reopened in 1936 by State Trust Co., later Northwestern Bank, then Home Bank & Trust, then Bank of NC. The McClintock clock was added in 1927. Designed by prominent local architect Erle Stillwell.
Photo from 1987.
Cole Bank Building
1880s.
Plain, painted brick, two-story structure. Five bays at second floor. End windows are wider, all are one-over-one double hung. Flat arches with projecting keystone above all windows. Substantial alterations include completely modernized storefronts with plate glass and stone veneer. Structure was built to house the first bank in Hendersonville, first known by its founder's name, George H. P. Cole, and later as State Bank of Commerce.
According to James T. Fain, Jr., author of A Partial History of Henderson County (Arno Press, New York 1980, see pp. 34L-345), a story in the Hendersonville News (May 24, 1923) dates Hendersonville's first bank in the year 1888, coinciding with the arrival of Dr. George H.P. Coles, reputed to be the first man to open a proper banking establishement. A Savings and Loan Association wa opening just prior to this time, according to Mr. Fain. The Cole Bank became the State Bank of Commerce of January 25, 1889.
Mr. Fain quotes at length from a Hendersonville Times aricle of 1895, describing this bank building to be "one of the most substantial end attractive improvements in Hendersonville... [I]ts cost was $5,000 and its arrangement and equipment are conceded to be the best in the South. The materials used and the furniture are all products of Henderson County and the work of native skill. We would not describe fully the interior fittings of the bank were we to fail to mention the fine vault and burglar proof safe with time lock... while the safety boxes for rent within the vault renders the loss of papers and other valuables by fire impossible."
The structure served as Hendersonville's post office from 1905-1914, and more recently as Rose Pharmacy.
HISTORIC MARKER PLACED 2009
Cole Bank Building
ca. 1880
Built at a cost of $5,000, this building housed the first bank in Hendersonville, the George H.P. Cole Bank. It served as the post office from 1905-14, then Rose Pharmacy for many years. First telephone exchange was upstairs.
Photo from 1987.