|
Third National Bank (Liberty Trust building)
Photograph by Kathleen McKenney, courtesy of the City of Cumberland
|
The Third National Bank building, now known as the Liberty Trust Bank, is an excellent
example of early 20th-century commercial architecture. Designed in the
early 1900s by locally prominent architecture Wright Butler, the bank
is one of this architects most noteworthy buildings. Built originally
to house Cumberland's branch of the Third National Bank, this building
offers an interesting comparison to the Second National
Bank building built two decades earlier, and located just one block
to the west. At six stories tall, Third National is considerable taller
than the earlier financial institution. More importantly, its simple form
and refined details reflect a shift in early 20th-century architecture
away from the more complex compositions and elaborate Romantic Revival
details common to architecture of the mid-to-late 19th century.
Third National Bank is a commanding building at one of the Downtown
Historic District's central intersections. A distinctive feature
is the bank's rounded Centre Street corner. The red brick walls are
offset with rectangular sash windows, and Hummesltown Brownstone trim
(from Pennsylvania's premiere brownstone operation at the turn of the
20th century).Characteristic of Butler's work, the bank building features
a large dropped cornice above the sixth floor pierced by a row of oculus
windows.
The Third National Bank building is located at 83 Baltimore St., at its intersection with Centre St., and is a contributing building to the Downtown Cumberland Historic District. It is currently an office building, and not open to the public.
|
