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UNION BRIDGE BANKING AND TRUST BUILDING

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1899, Joseph Wolfe. 18 N. Main St.

This is the most architecturally distinctive building in the business district, reflecting the importance of Union Bridge as a commercial center. The eclectic buff-brick and limestone building embraces a wide elliptical stone arch framing a recessed entrance, recessed balcony, pressed-metal cornice, and Flemish-gable wall dormers. Wolfe was assisted in its construction by local mason William Rickell. Banking in Union Bridge began with a private enterprise established by George P. Buckey c. 1883 that grew to form this institution. The building was intended to instill confidence through its superior design, which was hailed by the local paper as “one of the handsomest banking buildings to be found in any of the smaller towns in the State.”

Also of note in the commercial district is the more traditional Anders and Lightner store building (1868; 2 S. Main) representing Union Bridge’s initial railway-era boom. It is a two-story, brick building divided into two units with separate storefronts.

A combination town hall and firehouse was built by partners John M. Furney and William H. Morningstar (1884; 10 E. Broadway). The long-anticipated building filled the need for both public meeting space and an appropriate place to store the town’s new Holloway Chemical Fire Engine. The first-floor fire house includes a three-cell lock-up, and on the second floor are a public hall and council chamber separated by a retractable partition to create flexible space.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Lisa Pfueller Davidson and Catherine C. Lavoie
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Data

Timeline

  • 1899

    Built

What's Nearby

Citation

Lisa Pfueller Davidson and Catherine C. Lavoie, "UNION BRIDGE BANKING AND TRUST BUILDING", [Union Bridge, Maryland], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MD-01-CM53.

Print Source

Buildings of Maryland, Lisa Pfueller Davidson and Catherine C. Lavoie. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2022, 266-266.

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