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National Bank of Huntington (Former) and St. James Apartments
1912, Verus T. Ritter. 1923–1925, Meanor and Handloser. 945 4th Ave. (southwest corner of 4th Ave. and 10th St.)
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National Bank of Huntington (Former) and St. James Apartments (State Historic Preservation Office, West Virginia Division of Culture and History, Visual Information, Ltd.)
This high-rise building houses one of Huntington's leading banks, with rental offices above. The 4th Avenue entrance is flanked by Roman Doric columns in a distyle-in-antis arrangement, whereas the longer 10th Street side has a colonnade screen of engaged columns. End windows are treated as pedimented tabernacles. Above a full Doric entablature, the ten-story shaft, faced in tan brick, is topped by a twelfth story with cartouches on the 4th Avenue front. The banking room, still largely in its original condition, more than lives up to the architectural promises of the exterior. Rows of Corinthian columns give the effect of a basilica, perfectly appropriate for a grand temple of finance.
In the 1920s a long-planned rear addition provided almost 150 additional offices. Meanor and Handloser copied the design motifs of the original building so faithfully that they often have been credited with the earlier work as well. Many offices are now apartments, and the residential portion, entered from 10th Street, is named the St. James.
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