Bank of America Building (Baltimore)

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The Bank of America building is the gold and green copper topped building to the center-right
The Bank of America building is the gold and green copper topped building to the center-right

The Bank of America building, located at the corner of East Baltimore and Light Streets in the downtown area of Baltimore, Maryland, at 505 feet (155 meters) was the tallest building in the state when built in 1929. Designed by the firm of Taylor and Fisher, the Mayan Revival and Art Deco building was built as the Baltimore Trust building in eighteen months from Indiana sandstone and local brick over a steel frame[1] at a cost of $3 million.[2] The building's exterior is decorated with bird and lion carvings and Maya-style human faces and is capped with a copper and gold roof. The main banking lobby is highly decorated with mosaic floors and historic murals of the Baltimore fire of 1904 and the writing of the National Anthem at the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812.

[edit] History

Shortly after the Baltimore Trust Company moved into the building in 1929, the bank went into bankruptcy in 1933 and receivership in 1935[1] and the then-vacant building was used by the New Deal's Public Works Administration in Maryland.[2] The building was then purchased by the Maryland National Bank in 1961, which was itself purchased by NationsBank in 1993. The building was restored and then obtained its current name following the NationsBank merger with BankAmerica in 1997.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Kelly, Denwood N., Shank Jr., Armand M., and Gordon, Thomas S. Money & Banking in Maryland (1996) p. 48. Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore. ISBN 0-938420-52-6
  2. ^ a b Olson, Sherry H. Baltimore: The Building of an American City (1997) p. 314-15. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland. ISBN 0-8018-5640-X
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