History and architecture
The Union Square Savings Bank, originally the Institution for the Savings of Merchants' Clerks, was built in 1905-07 to the designs of Henry Bacon in a bold and monumental Academic Classic style popularized by the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago. It is his largest and best-known bank commission. The Union Square Savings Bank enjoys a prominent position on the east side of Union Square at the corner of East 15th Street, and Bacon's design accentuates its prominence with a freestanding portico supported on four giant Corinthian columns and a monumental entranceway behind the columns. It was also an unusual work for Bacon, who specialized in the design of public monuments and is best known for having designed the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., completed in 1923. The bank building remains largely intact on the exterior.
Sources and further reading
This history comes from the Landmarks app’s historical catalog. Names and building uses may reflect the period described.