The Northeast Savings Bank (NESB) building, located at 800 H Street NE, is indicative of both its financial use and banking history, but also retains architectural significance. It is a leading example of the Beaux-Arts style, as well as a well-preserved remnant of the many community and neighborhood banks that began to pop up in Washington’s neighborhoods during the early 20th century. Like other community banks, NESB was essential to its surrounding neighborhood and its residents.
Going as far back as the early streetcar companies, H Street NE began as a major commercial and transportation route. H Street became one of the most important transportation links in 1870 when it was chosen for the route of the Columbia Railroad Companies, which in turn would connect H Street to downtown. The new streetcar route spurred on the thriving commercial district with its ample businesses, and served a largely working class population, as the city had grown by one-third between 1910 and 1920.
A bustling area, the H Street commercial district was financially underserved, yet ever expanding. The requirement for a neighborhood bank would eventually lead to the establishment of NESB. Similar savings banks were established in DC in the early 20th century, due to the continuous spread of populations from the city center in tandem with the ease of transportation. Founded in 1915, under the supervision of Dr. Victor Esche, the first chairman of NESB, the bank would continue to grow as it served its thriving community, which led to the need for a new, permanent location.
The NESB building was designed by B. Stanley Simmons, who is known for his prestigious and elaborate architecture, such as the Beaux-Arts style National Metropolitan Bank. Simmons’ style also may have been influenced by Charles McKim, a practitioner of the Beaux-Arts style who contributed to the design of the highly-influential and wildly popular 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.
The bank, which was constructed in 1921, is clad in limestone, and includes a highly-ornamented extruded main entrance on H Street, the bank’s primary facade. The entrance, which stands out from the symmetric, incised central entrance bay, is topped by a cartouche and two cornucopias, symbolizing prosperity. The entryway is bordered by tall metal sash windows, of which the east window retains its original arrangement. Each end of the H Street facade includes two pilasters with bases that are incorporated into and sit atop the granite water table, as well as capitals that include both Doric and Corinthian elements. A belt course separates the metal sash windows above from the main entrance below. The bank is crowned by a cornice of modillions and a parapet, which extends from the primary facade to the west elevation along 8th Street. The west elevation includes similar Neoclassical elements. Here, there is a secondary entrance, six incised metal sash windows, and pairs of pilasters – like those found on the front facade – that divide each window bay.
When designing these neighborhood banks, like NESB, the goal was to create a place that invoked ideas of doing business, financial stability, and architectural beauty, as well as fit into the aesthetic of other neighborhood banks. NESB’s Beaux-Arts style and Classical Revival features make it uniquely recognizable as a neighborhood institution. The building's design points to its financial use and is a remnant of the 1920s – a period of great prosperity right before the Great Depression.
As the Great Depression brought on a large amount of fear and distress within banks and amongst their customers, many depositors lost confidence and withdrew massive amounts of money. Because of this, in May 1933, NESB merged with Hamilton National Bank, and continued to operate through and after World War II, before it was acquired by the National Bank of Washington in 1954. After the closure of the National Bank of Washington in 1990, NESB was sold to Riggs National Bank, and would narrowly escape closure due to the improving economic conditions.
This location served as a Riggs National Bank until 2004, when it failed, due to ill-regulation and lack of compliance with anti-money laundering rules. It was sold and converted into a PNC Bank branch in 2005, and continues to operate as such to this day.
DC Inventory: October 26, 2023
National Register: December 28, 2023
]]>Constructed facing McPherson Square in 1917, the Davidson Building, designed by prominent local architect B. Stanley Simmons, is a representative example of a large scale private office development. In addition, the building fits within a category of private development designed and built for the federal government shortly before the Public Buildings Commission initiated policies to discourage the future practice of this trend. After the Federal Trade Commission left the building in 1918, subsequent tenants reflected the development of the 15th Street NW corridor as Washington’s “Wall Street.”
As one of the earliest tall commercial buildings constructed on K Street, the Davidson Building historically stood out among the diverse mix of smaller scale residential and commercial structures. As the neighborhood developed as a financial and real estate center in the 1920s and experienced further commercial development throughout the post-WWII period, the building has become one among many larger buildings in the area.
DC Inventory: July 28, 2016
National Register: October 4, 2016
Within Financial Historic District
]]>The Barr Building was built by prominent real estate developer John L. Barr, for whom it was named, and designed by architect B. Stanley Simmons, with whom Barr often collaborated. It is executed in a soaring Gothic Revival style that is not common for this city’s commercial building fabric. Presumably inspired by well-known predecessors, such as New York’s Woolworth Building and the Chicago Tribune Tower, the Barr Building is an exuberant and fully realized example of the style.
One of the oldest buildings on Farragut Square, the Barr Building illustrates the initial wave of 20th century commercial development in the city when older, 19th century residential buildings were replaced with larger office buildings catering to the city’s growing business community.
DC Inventory: October 25, 2012
National Register: January 23, 2013
]]>The distinctive Beaux-Arts facade of the National Metropolitan Bank building forms a strong architectural unit with the adjacent Riggs (Albee) Building. Its design echoes that of many of the other buildings in the Financial Historic District, creating an architecturally coherent environment along 15th Street NW, between Pennsylvania Avenue and K Street.
The National Metropolitan Bank was designed by B. Stanley Simmons, a prolific DC architect, in collaboration with the New York architectural firm of Gordon, Tracy and Swartwout. The original bank building was constructed between 1905 and 1907, and the facade was incorporated into the Metropolitan Square office building in 1986, following the redevelopment of the block.
DC Inventory: August 11, 1977
National Register: September 13, 1978
Within Financial Historic District
]]>Washington Lodge No. 15 was home to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE). Founded in 1868 as a social club, BPOE is similar to the Freemasons in rites, traditions, and regalia. Until 1973, membership was restricted to white men. A year prior to the building’s demolition, the qualifications for membership included being male, at least twenty-one years old, belief in a Supreme Being, a citizen of the United States, and not a member of the Communist Party. This particular lodge included many of Washington’s prominent men as members. Designed by B. Stanley Simmons (1871-1931), Washington Lodge No. 15 was built in the Beaux-Arts style common at the turn of the century. The building was ornamented with stone swags, urn baluster balconies, portrait busts, and large elks’ heads. DC’s 1978 preservation law was designed to protect buildings like the Elks Lodge; however, the law allows for the demolition of historic buildings if the proposed project is deemed to be one of special merit or necessary in the public interest by the Mayor’s Agent on Historic Preservation. Razed in 1980, the Elks Lodge was replaced by the Washington Convention Center, a $99 million project meant to draw much needed business back to the city. The Washington Convention Center operated until 2004 when it was replaced by the nearby Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The site is now part of the City Center development– a mixed use development project that includes a hotel, high-end retail and residential towers. DC Inventory: April 29, 1975
]]>In its essentially unaltered state, the Wyoming stands as a reminder of the elegance and the quality of design, workmanship, and materials characteristic of the Golden Age of the apartment building in the early years of the twentieth century. The Wyoming Apartments was designed by prominent Washington architect B. Stanley Simmons. Its buff brick and limestone Eclectic Beaux-Arts facade, with its classical details and unusual, elaborate one-story, yet monumental, entrance pavilion, is boldly designed and prominently sited.
The building captures the essence of the early-twentieth century departure from the Victorian styles of the eighteenth century and it stands as a monument to the emerging popularity of apartment living in Washington. Through the years, this stately apartment building has been the residence of a number of military and political figures of national significance.
DC Inventory: July 16, 1980 (amended May 18, 1983 to include interior of entrance pavilion) National Register: September 27, 1983
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