One of the reasons Joan Hufnagle enjoys visiting the Sovereign Bank in downtown Pottsville is the architectural accents on its historical building.
"That's Mercury," the Pottsville woman said Jan. 31, pointing to the stone face of the Greek god on the former Miners Bank building at 120 S. Centre St.
It's one of the high-relief sculptures detailing the top of the facade.
She also noticed a bust of a bearded man.
"Zeus?" She wasn't sure.
"It looks like he's got horns," Peter Yasenchak, executive director of the Schuylkill County Historical Society, said Feb. 1 as he examined some photos of the high-relief sculptures.
It's Pluto, Greek god of the underworld and "giver of wealth in mines, wells and quarries," according to a booklet for the bank's 100th anniversary published by Seider's Press in 1928.
There are a few bank buildings with symbolic decorations on their facades. They include the former Miners Bank in Pottsville and M&T Bank in the former First National Bank and Trust Company building at 1. W. Main St. in Schuylkill Haven.
Diane Shaw, an associate professor at the School of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, offered some insights into why banks in the early 20th century accented their facades with Greek gods and mythical figures.
It was popular because it was "classical," Shaw said.
From 1900 to the late 1920s, the "Beaux-Arts" was in.
"That's French for 'beautiful arts' or 'fine arts.' It's a style that expresses classical motifs, ancient Greek motifs, ancient Roman motifs," said Shaw, who is an architectural historian.
An academic neoclassical architectural style, it was taught at "the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris," according to Shaw.
"It was such a popular style at the time. Many institutions were using it, expensive, prominent buildings, from schools to museums to banks to opera halls. There was a real popularity for these classical styles during the early 20th century," Shaw said.
Summing up why, Shaw said: "Classicism connotes good taste."
"The question is why does it connote good taste? The late 19th century, the era before, had a real taste for Victorian detail, variety, intricacy. And architectural designs often use history as a design quarry," she said.
Designers will revisit the past and adapt it to their purposes, Shaw said.
"Fashion is fickle. By definition, things change to be fashionable. Otherwise, it's traditional. So in the late 19th century, there was a shift where designers decided, 'We're done with classicism. Let's go with a medieval revival.' Then there was a return to classicism in the early 20th century," Shaw said.
Designers returned to classical designs in the early 20th century, inspired by designers in Paris.
"Paris is one of the culture capitals in the world and Europe is a trendsetter and a taste-maker. And the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris was in the trend of really preferring classicism. They viewed it as more true, more honorable, more long-lasting as it connotes authority and good taste," Shaw said.
So the designers of the bank facades in Pottsville and Schuylkill Haven weren't looking to Greek or Roman designers for inspiration, Shaw said.
"They were inspired by the French, who were aping the Greeks and the Romans," Shaw said.
Miners Bank
The former Miners Bank in downtown Pottsville stands apart from many other buildings because its facade includes faces, John Levkulic, principal of Levkulic Associates, an engineering firm based in Pottsville, said Feb. 1.
"Pottsville is known as a very historic city. And if you take the time to look up and look at some of the facades and the cornices of some of these buildings, they're absolutely gorgeous, from the Thompson Building all down through. You'll see buildings which feature a cornucopia or a similar trim made out of clay. But you don't see many high-relief faces," Levkulic said.
"It's strange that they would have Greek people on the facade," Yasenchak said.
It's the oldest bank in the city, according to Patricia M. Malarkey, who authored a 20-page history of the "Miners National Bank of Pottsville" in 1979. It's on file at the Schuylkill County Historical Society in Pottsville.
In her report, Malarkey said she wrote the history while taking college courses.
"For the past three summers, I have worked as a book keeper at the Miners National Bank of Pottsville. When I signed up for EC 367, The Economics of the Great Depression, I saw it as an opportunity to further explore the history of this, the oldest bank in the city," Malarkey said in her introduction.
The first Miners National Bank building in Pottsville was constructed in 1832 on the southeast corner of Centre and Norwegian streets. In 1907, bank officials decided to demolish that building and built a new bank building on the spot, which opened on Nov. 4, 1927, according to the "Joseph H. Zerbey History of Pottsville and Schuylkill County," published in 1936.
According to Malarkey, the facade of the new building is "best described" in a booklet for the bank's 100th anniversary, published in 1928.
"Large windows with circular heads supported by bronze work open into the main banking room, and above them, on each side of the facade, is a marble head of Mercury, worshipped by the ancients as the god of trade and commerce. Above the entrance is the head of Pluto, god of the lower world and giver of wealth in mines, wells and quarries," according to the anniversary book published in 1928.
There are two female angels on either side of a stone crest on the facade's pediment. On the crest is the image of a fruit tree.
"It's put there for a reason. It's not just for decoration," Stephen Buzalko, a member of the City of Pottsville's Historical Architectural Review Board, said Feb. 6. But he wasn't sure what the characters or symbols meant.
After seeing a photo of it, Shaw offered an interpretation: "My read on it is that the tree is a modern invention inserted into a classical composition, and is not in and of itself a classical motif with erudite connotations. I just haven't seen trees used in classical allusions, except for early 19th century use of weeping willows as a mourning symbol, but again, not ancient in origin. The tree also looks like a fruit tree to me, with deep and healthy roots, spreading branches with bountiful fruit. What a great image for a bank, deep roots in the community, stable, growing, flourishing, bearing fruit. The swags or perhaps they are cornucopia draped on the outside are also symbols of bountifulness. Classicism as a style also was often used on buildings to convey the notions of importance, enduring presence, timelessness, power, stability. So we get a sort of hybrid here," Shaw said.
Rene Medina, branch manager at Sovereign Bank in Pottsville, did not return calls for comment. A Sovereign Bank spokeswoman from Boston, Mass., who did not wish to be named, said the bank does not have the history of the building at hand and referred all comments to local historical societies.
First National
The M&T Bank in Schuylkill Haven features high-relief sculptures of ancient merchants handling gold coins and scales on its facade.
"They're Egyptian," said Ellen Guertler, secretary for the Schuylkill Haven Area Historical Society. But she didn't have any further information, aside from what she found in back issues of local newspapers.
The First National Bank in Schuylkill Haven was chartered Aug. 28, 1889, and opened for business Sept. 5, 1889, according to the "Joseph H. Zerbey History of Pottsville and Schuylkill County."
On July 1, 1903, the bank's director bought the property on the northwest corner of Main and St. John streets and started construction of a new building, which opened for business Dec. 1, 1904, according to the Zerbey history.
Then the bank built a third building which opened Oct. 12, 1929. It was designed and built by "The Tichman Moyer Co. of Allentown," according to the Oct. 12, 1929, edition of The Pottsville REPUBLICAN.
"The building is built of Indiana limestone on a foundation base of Carolina granite. The modern in Egyptian is the style and design. It is 29 feet wide and extends to a height of 44 feet. The loggia or entrance to the building is eight feet in depth and extends to a height of 44 feet," according to the newspaper.
"Across the top of the front of the building is carved the name of the bank and the years 1889 and 1929. A huge Egyptian figure on each side of the figures depicts the early method of exchange in commerce and business. The estimated cost of the building is $180,000," according to the newspaper.
According to a website on Egyptian gods, ageofegypt.com, the Egyptian god of wealth is "Dedwen."
Meanwhile, on the side of the building facing St. John Street are some Greek symbols, in particular "Mercury head dimes," Guertler said.
Guertler wasn't sure why the bank chose those designs.
"Maybe they were planning to get foreign trade in. You don't know they're thinking back then. But it's awesome they way they did design things," she said.
Representatives from M&T Bank in Schuylkill Haven did not return calls for comment.