Merchants National Bank, bank building in Winona, Minnesota, United States
Merchants National Bank is a bank building on East 3rd Street in Winona, Minnesota, built in 1912 in the Prairie School style. It is made of brick with terracotta ornaments, large windows with stained glass, and a central skylight that fills the interior with colored light.
The building was designed in 1912 by William Gray Purcell, George Feick Jr., and George Grant Elmslie, who moved away from the classical European styles then common in American banking architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 as part of the Winona Commercial Historic District.
Inside, murals painted by Albert Fleury show farming life and river scenes from the Winona area. These images reflect how tightly the city's daily life was tied to the land and the Mississippi River.
The exterior can be seen from the street and is easy to find on East 3rd Street in downtown Winona. Visiting during daylight hours gives the best view of the brick facade and its ornamental details.
A terracotta eagle sits above the entrance, which was an unusual choice for a bank at the time. The architects used natural symbols to give a commercial building a local and human character.
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