State National Bank Building, Neoclassical bank building on Main Street, Houston, United States

The State National Bank Building at 412 Main Street is a neo-classical skyscraper with Beaux Arts ornamentation designed by Alfred C. Finn and completed in 1923. Its first three stories form a base of rough-cut granite, pierced by a high arch over the main entry, once fronted by bronze gates. Above, seven stories of double-hung windows are set in bays with interspersed ornaments.

The State National Bank Building was designed by Houston architect Alfred C. Finn and built in 1923 for the State National Bank, which grew out of the State Bank and Trust Company chartered in 1915 and joined the Federal Reserve System in 1920. Construction cost about $500,000, and the building stayed fully leased until the bank moved out in 1946. In 1947 Huster and Wise bought it with two flanking properties for $720,000.

The base displays the engraved motto 'Frugality is the mother of all virtues' reflecting financial principles that bankers wanted to convey to customers in the early 1900s. This inscription shows how moral values were tied to banking and business practices of that era.

The building at 412 Main Street now operates as a 118-room Moxy Hotel, which opened in December 2023, so the lobby and public areas serve hotel guests and visitors rather than bank customers. The former banking hall, once reached by a marble stairway to the basement vaults, is no longer a working bank space.

The main entry sits under a high arch that was originally fronted by bronze gates, with bronze tablets and lighting fixtures beside it. A marble stairway inside leads down to the basement, where the bank kept its vaults, conference rooms and a boiler room. The 1948 owners added a metal portico to support a canopy.