Bay City Bank Building
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Commercial Building (Bay City Bank Building)
1903, Jules Leffland. 2044 Ave. F
Leffland varied his standard commercial block type to underscore the status of banks as institutions. The corner entrance beneath an undercut portico supported on a polished granite column is the signifying feature of his bank typology. At Bay City, he amplified this corner element by treating it as a miniature tower and adding a mansard roof to give the building more presence at the intersection of two wide streets. Leffland incorporated the red-buff brick color combination he favored, emphasizing the red. The bank, the first established in Bay City, was founded by Henry Rugeley and his brother-in-law Frank Hawkins.
Jules Leffland seems to have been the architect of adjoining business blocks, the two-story brick Henry Rugeley Building of 1904 at 2042 Avenue F and the two-story Bay City Masonic Lodge No. 865 of 1906 at 1627 7th Street. At 2100 Avenue F is the Matagor da County Museum, formerly the U.S. Post Office of 1918 by James A. Wetmore, Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury. It is a handsome one-story neoclassical building faced with buff brick.
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