Commercial National Bank is an historic structure located in Downtown Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

  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...

 in 1991.

History

The bank was organized in 1904 and grew to become the fourth largest bank in the city by the 1920s. Its capitol was frozen at the value of its building when it failed in 1933. The building, completed in 1917, was also designed to house Western Union

Western Union

The Western Union Company is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. Its North American headquarters is in Englewood, Colorado. Up until 2006, Western Union was the best-known U.S...

.

Architecture

The building was designed by Washington architect Waddy B. Wood. It is an early example of the simplified and stylized classicism that became popular in the 1920s. The exterior of the 11-story structure features strong corner massing, limestone facades with flattened porticos, a plain ashlar

Ashlar

Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...

 middle section and a prominent cornice

Cornice

Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...

. Greek Doric motifs are featured in its austere decoration. The interior of the building has a three-story banking lobby that features monumental columns.