Lincoln Bank Tower
Indiana’s tallest skyscraper for three decades, built on the eve of the Great Depression and never stopped.
At a glance
Fort Wayne’s most celebrated skyscraper, the Lincoln Bank Tower rose 22 stories above Allen County in 1930, a monument to ambition built despite the Wall Street Crash. Architect Alvin M. Strauss fashioned an Art Deco tower that reached 312 feet — Indiana’s tallest for three decades — sheathed in Indiana limestone and granite with a soaring 58-ton terra-cotta crown. Its lobby, two stories tall and lined with murals of industries and seasons, still draws visitors who come to see the original 1930 soda fountain between the entrance and the banking floor.
Key facts
- Built: 1930 (opened November 16, 1930)
- Architect: Alvin M. Strauss, Fort Wayne
- Style: Art Deco
- Height: 312 ft (95 m), 22 floors
- Address: 116 East Berry Street, Fort Wayne, Indiana
- Materials: Indiana limestone, granite, 58-ton terra-cotta crown, 500 tons marble
- Cost: $1.3 million (1930)
History
Lincoln National Bank and Trust had German-American origins. Chartered in 1905 as the German American National Bank, it was renamed Lincoln National Bank in 1918 to deflect anti-German sentiment during World War I. The name “Lincoln” carried double appeal: it was unmistakably American, and the nearby Lincoln National Life Insurance Company had been a civic fixture since 1905. By 1928, the bank had merged with Lincoln Trust Company to become Lincoln National Bank and Trust.
President Charles Buesching — himself a German immigrant — commissioned the tower as a monument to the German-American community that had founded Fort Wayne’s commercial life. Ground broke on August 16, 1929. Six weeks later, the stock market crashed. Construction never stopped. When the tower opened on November 16, 1930, at a cost of $1.3 million, it was the tallest building in Indiana, a title it held until 1962. The design drew on the Tribune Tower in Chicago as a partial reference, refracted through Strauss’s Fort Wayne sensibility.
In 1995, Norwest Bank (successor to Lincoln National) vacated the building, leaving it 60% empty. A 1997 sheriff’s sale preceded Tippmann Properties’ acquisition in 1998 and a careful restoration. Tower Bank moved in as anchor tenant, adopting the tower silhouette as its logo. Old National Bank acquired Tower Bank in 2014 and maintains a banking center in the lobby today. The building appeared in Neil LaBute’s 1996 film In the Company of Men, with the main banking hall as the setting of the final scene.
What you see
From East Berry Street, the tower climbs in cream-colored Indiana limestone, each setback stepping back in the classic Art Deco ziggurat profile. Lead spandrel panels run between the windows; at the summit, the 58-ton terra-cotta crown tapers to a slender observation tower capped by a flagpole. The building is faced with 21,250 cubic feet of cut stone over 1,774 tons of structural steel — proportions that make the verticality feel earned rather than merely asserted.
At ground level, seven bronze panels flanking the main entrance narrate scenes from Abraham Lincoln’s life. Between the vestibule and the lobby, the original 1930 soda fountain occupies a curved counter still in daily use. The two-story banking hall beyond — 85 feet wide by 110 feet long — is lined in Milford granite, Italian travertine marble, rare green Vermont marble, and hand-wrought bronze. Art Deco murals overhead depict Indiana’s industries and seasons, drawing on Egyptian and Greek symbolism: a female form represents fecundity; the sun, energy.
Practical information
- Lobby and banking center open during business hours (weekdays)
- The original 1930 soda fountain operates during weekday hours
- Upper floors are private office space; no general access above the lobby
- Best viewed from East Berry Street for the full vertical profile
- Allow 20–30 minutes for the lobby and entrance bronze panels
Getting there
The Lincoln Bank Tower stands at 116 East Berry Street in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana, two blocks from the Allen County Courthouse. Fort Wayne is served by Fort Wayne International Airport (FWA), with rental car and taxi connections to downtown. By car, the tower is accessible from I-469 or US-30; street parking is available on Berry Street and nearby blocks. GPS: 41.07923°N, 85.13880°W.
Nearby
- Allen County Courthouse (1902) — Richardsonian Romanesque courthouse two blocks west, cornerstone of downtown Fort Wayne
- Elektron Building (1912) — early Fort Wayne commercial landmark on East Berry Street, also known as the Lincoln Life Building before 1923
- Fort Wayne Museum of Art — Main Street, a short walk from the tower
Sources
- Wikipedia: Lincoln Bank Tower
- SkyscraperPage.com, Building ID 9928
- Indiana Historic Architecture and Preservation, main entrance documentation
- Journal Gazette (Fort Wayne): “Lincoln Bank Tower Opens in 1930,” November 26, 2020
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