Merchants National Bank (Winona, Minnesota)
Encyclopedia
Merchants National Bank in Winona, Minnesota
is a bank building designed in the Prairie School
architectural style. It was built in 1912, and it features elaborate terra cotta
and stained glass
ornamentation. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
on October 16, 1974.
Architects William Gray Purcell
, George Feick, Jr., and George Grant Elmslie
intended the building to appear solid and stable, to impress both bankers and customers. The design elements reflected the agricultural importance of the community, with terra cotta
sculptures of grain on the exterior and murals of farm scenes, painted by their friend Albert Fleury, inside. A terra cotta eagle perches above the entrance. The interior receives sunlight through stained glass window walls and a skylight, and is also lit with vertical light standards topped by round globes. Purcell used some of these design features in the Edna S. Purcell House, built a year later.
Winona, Minnesota
Winona is a city in and the county seat of Winona County, in the U.S. State of Minnesota. Located in picturesque bluff country on the Mississippi River, its most noticeable physical landmark is Sugar Loaf....
is a bank building designed in the Prairie School
Prairie School
Prairie School was a late 19th and early 20th century architectural style, most common to the Midwestern United States.The works of the Prairie School architects are usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands,...
architectural style. It was built in 1912, and it features elaborate terra cotta
Terra cotta
Terracotta, Terra cotta or Terra-cotta is a clay-based unglazed ceramic, although the term can also be applied to glazed ceramics where the fired body is porous and red in color...
and stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
ornamentation. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on October 16, 1974.
Architects William Gray Purcell
William Gray Purcell
William Gray Purcell was a Prairie School architect in the Midwestern United States. He partnered with George Grant Elmslie. The firm of Purcell and Elmslie produced designs for buildings in twenty two states, Australia, and China...
, George Feick, Jr., and George Grant Elmslie
George Grant Elmslie
George Grant Elmslie was an American, though born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Prairie School architect whose work is mostly found in the Midwestern United States...
intended the building to appear solid and stable, to impress both bankers and customers. The design elements reflected the agricultural importance of the community, with terra cotta
Terra cotta
Terracotta, Terra cotta or Terra-cotta is a clay-based unglazed ceramic, although the term can also be applied to glazed ceramics where the fired body is porous and red in color...
sculptures of grain on the exterior and murals of farm scenes, painted by their friend Albert Fleury, inside. A terra cotta eagle perches above the entrance. The interior receives sunlight through stained glass window walls and a skylight, and is also lit with vertical light standards topped by round globes. Purcell used some of these design features in the Edna S. Purcell House, built a year later.