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Item Title
Riggs National Bank, 1503-1505 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, DC
Location1503-1505 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest,
Washington, DC
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Created/Published
Documentation compiled after 1933.
Notes
Survey number HABS DC-543
Unprocessed field note material exists for this structure (FN-77).
Building/structure dates:
1902 initial construction
Building/structure dates:
1924 subsequent work
National Register Number: 73002113
Significance: The Riggs National Bank building is located at the center of Washington's financial district. The Roman, Ionic facade of the bank faces Robert Mills' United States Treasury building, itself a National Landmark and one of the finest examples of the Greek Revival period in the United States. Symbolically, the Neo-Classical Riggs Bank facade represents its close relationship to the work of the United States Treasury, and by implication, the important role it has played in public and private financial transactions in the Nation's Capital. The Riggs Bank presents an elegant example of the restrained classical facade employed at the turn of the century for important city banks. The use of the Neo-Classical had gained acceptance a decade earlier following the Chicago World's Fair. Neo-Classicism became the style of the city Beautiful movement and was espoused in Washington by the McMillan Commission. The architectural importance of the Riggs Bank was again recognized during the 1960s when it was selected by the Joint Committee on Landmarks as a Category II Landmark. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Subjects
Banks
Related Names
York, Edward Palmer
Sawyer, Philip
Clark, Appleton P.
Blatteau, John
Riggs, George W.
Corcoran, William W.
Collection
Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)
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