Commercial Bank and Banker's House, Greek Revival bank building in Natchez, United States.
The Commercial Bank and Banker's House is a single Greek Revival structure at 206 Main Street and 107 Canal Street in Natchez, Mississippi, built in 1833. The bank front on Main Street is a tall single-story block with a Greek temple projection: four Ionic columns on a low plinth, side stairs, a full entablature and a gabled pediment. The house on South Canal Street is five bays wide with a two-column Doric portico and a wrought-iron balcony above. The two parcels form an L around an unrelated commercial building.
The Commercial Bank was chartered in 1833 and the combined bank-and-residence building went up soon after, designed so the banker could live on the premises for security. Levin R. Marshall, who lived at the Richmond estate outside Natchez, helped found the bank and served as its president for several years. The bank quarters later housed a Christian Science congregation in the 1970s and now stand empty, while the house served at times as a girls' school and a boarding house before a full renovation in 2021/2022.
The building displays hand-carved door surrounds and window frames that reflect the design tastes of 1830s Mississippi society. These ornamental details remain visible throughout the structure and shape its overall character.
The bank section faces Main Street at 206 Main Street, while the house faces South Canal Street at 107 Canal Street, with a front yard between them. The bank portion is vacant and the house is a private residence, so visitors can only view the exterior. The two parcels form an L shape around an unrelated commercial building at the corner.
The walls are 20-inch-thick brick covered in scored plaster made to look like large limestone blocks, while the bank facade is dressed marble. The house holds Italian marble mantels upstairs and downstairs, unusual where wood was the norm. Local tradition says outlaw Jesse James once stayed in the house.
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