First National Bank Building
A sandstone-clad Art Deco bank on South Main Street where sunburst aluminum grillework and aluminum eagles crown fluted pilasters — the most architecturally distinctive commercial building on Greenville’s historic main street.
At a glance
Standing at 102 South Main Street in downtown Greenville, the First National Bank Building was completed in 1938 to designs by Atlanta architect Silas L. Trowbridge and built by the local firm Morris & McKoy. A two-and-a-half-story sandstone-sheathed steel frame structure, it was enlarged in 1952 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The NRHP nomination identifies it as “one of few structures in Louisville and the only major commercial/retail building constructed in the Art Deco style” — a designation that applies equally to Greenville, where the building stands as a rare example of the style on the piedmont South Carolina main street. The building currently houses a branch of TD Bank, successor to Carolina First Bank, which merged with TD Bank in 2010.
Key facts
- Built: 1938 (enlarged 1952)
- Architect: Silas L. Trowbridge (Atlanta, Georgia)
- Builder: Morris & McKoy
- Style: Art Deco
- Address: 102 S. Main St., Greenville, Greenville County, South Carolina
- NRHP designation: December 21, 1989 (ref. 89002152)
- Current occupant: TD Bank (formerly Carolina First Bank, merged 2010)
- Materials: Sandstone sheathing on steel frame; polished black granite door frame and base
History
By 1938, Greenville was developing rapidly as a textile manufacturing center in the South Carolina Piedmont. The First National Bank commissioned a new headquarters from Silas L. Trowbridge, an Atlanta architect who had worked across the southeastern United States. Trowbridge’s design brought a controlled Art Deco vocabulary to a building type — the urban bank — that in most southern cities of this period was still expressed in Neoclassical or Colonial Revival idioms. The result was an outlier on South Main Street: the only building in Greenville that fully committed to the Art Deco commercial language that was reshaping American downtowns in the 1930s.
The building was enlarged in 1952, adding to its footprint while preserving the character of the original composition. It passed through several institutional hands — First National Bank was later known as Carolina First Bank before a 2010 merger brought it into the TD Bank network. The NRHP listing in 1989 recognized both its rarity as an Art Deco building in the region and the quality of its ornamental program.
What you see
The facade’s material hierarchy establishes the Art Deco vocabulary at street level: the door frame and base are finished in polished black granite, the surface that anchors the composition with a depth and reflectivity that sandstone cannot offer. Above, the sandstone cladding carries the main ornamental program — a geometric-patterned cornice, a frieze band, and the signature elements that make the building immediately recognizable: stylized sunburst aluminum grillework and fluted aluminum pilasters that rise to finials of stylized aluminum eagles.
The eagles are an American Art Deco fixture, appearing on federal buildings from Washington to the smallest post office in the country, but their appearance here on a private bank — paired with the sunburst motif that evokes prosperity and civic optimism — places the First National Bank squarely in the tradition of Depression-era commercial architecture that sought to project confidence through ornament at a moment when banks desperately needed to appear stable.
Practical information
- Access: Active bank branch; lobby accessible during banking hours
- Photography: Exterior photography freely permitted from South Main Street
- Best time to visit: Midday for the best light on the south-facing facade
Getting there
Located at 102 South Main Street in central Greenville, in the heart of the downtown pedestrian district. Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP) is approximately 12 miles northeast. Interstate 85 serves the Greenville metropolitan area. South Main Street is a walkable corridor with restaurants, shops, and hotels within easy reach of the building.
Nearby
- Falls Park on the Reedy — a riverside park with waterfalls under the Liberty Bridge, two blocks south on Main Street
- Greenville County Museum of Art — the region’s principal art museum, a few blocks east
- Peace Center for the Performing Arts — Greenville’s major performing arts venue, adjacent to the riverfront
Sources
- Wikipedia: First National Bank (Greenville, South Carolina)
- National Register of Historic Places, ref. 89002152, designated December 21, 1989
- NPS NRHP Nomination: Judith T. Bainbridge
- South Carolina Department of Archives and History: National Register Properties
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