National Bank of Rolla Building - Rolla, Missouri
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 37° 56.996 W 091° 46.289
15S E 607935 N 4200971
Historic bank and former hotel building in downtown Rolla, Missouri.
Waymark Code: WMCWZ6
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 10/20/2011
Views: 2
"The National Bank Building, in Rolla, Missouri is a four story masonry commercial building with Colonial Revival styling. It occupies the southeast corner of the intersection of Eighth and Pine Streets, in the downtown commercial center of Rolla. The "L" shaped building is set close to the street, directly on the sidewalk. It has a flat roof, brick walls, and a notable collection of glazed terra cotta ornamentation. The north and west sides of the building face busy streets; both are important elevations. Those two walls have very similar patterns of fenestration and ornamentation, with terra cotta sheathing on the ground floor and ornamental terra cotta cornices at the first floor and the roofiine. The main doorways to the bank feature elaborate pedimented door surrounds, and the roofiine is accented with terra cotta urns. A low modern drive-through off the southeast corner of the building is the only other resource on the property; the bank is a contributing building, and the drive through is a non-contributing building. The bank was built in 1930-1931 to house the National Bank of Rolla, the Hotel Edwin Long, and the Edwin Long Coffee Shop. When new, the hotel occupied the upper floors, while the bank was located mostly on the first floor. The hotel went out of business in the early 1970s, and the early hotel spaces are now occupied by bank offices as well. The ground floor of the building has been in almost continual use as a bank since the day it opened, and it and the street-facing exterior elevations look today very much as they did in 1931." - National Register nomination
The building is in very good condition and currently serves as the Phelps County Bank.