Commercial National Bank, Raleigh, N.C.
For Flashback Friday this week we feature a postcard depicting the elegant Commercial National Bank. Many consider it Raleigh’s finest early 20th century commercial building. It was designed in 1912 by the talented Atlanta architect, P. Thornton Marye.
(Note: I have done my best to decipher the nearly illegible message scrawled in pencil on the back of this card. The writer’s penmanship leaves a lot to be desired — he used no punctuation, and the spelling is just awful. My transcription corrects some of the spelling, but the rest is in the eye of the beholder! Anybody else want to take a shot at it?)
Dear friend / I arrived home the 13 but to day is the first time have [be]en in Raleigh / saw a good many of my friends / it is so hot here I can hardly stand it / how is it there / I am sorry I was such [illegible] when I was at y– house that no of y– was at home / no would you come to the dock [?] that allwright [?]
PtC [?] love to y– wife
Sadly, the Commercial National Bank building is no more. Raleigh lost this incredibly beautiful architectural treasure in 1991. Do any GNR readers know how the building was destroyed, why, and by whom? Where did it stand and what occupies this site today?
Our featured postcard this week was published by the Valentine-Souvenir Co. of New York City.
Valentine-Souvenir Co.  (1914-1923)
New York, NYFormed by the merger of the Leighton & Valentine Company with the Souvenir Post Card Company. They published tinted halftone view-cards in line block that were printed in the United States.
While their later white border cards retained the usual limited pallet, these cards have an entirely different look. There is much more emphasis on the details that are printed in black rather than the color overprinting.
“Flashback Friday†is a weekly feature of Goodnight, Raleigh! in which we showcase vintage postcards depicting our historic capital city. We hope you enjoy this week end treat!
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS feed
Subscribe to posts by Email
Sign up for the Newsletter
08/05/2011
I think you were very close. Old-timey phonetic abbreviations and leaving off letters:
I arrived home the 13(th) all safe. But today is the first time I have been in Raleigh. I saw a good many of my friends. It is so hot here. I can hardly stand it. How is it there? I am sorry I was such a nusom [nuisance] when I was at your house. That none of you all was at home. Nor would you come to the dock. That’s all right.
08/05/2011
I believe this building was imploded one Sunday morning by that paragon of historic preservation, First Citizens Bank (sarcasm) in order for them to build a new building. They never built it and it has since been replaced by the RBC Plaza building. It was across from the Mecca, corner of Martin and Wilmington.
I think the NC Archives Flickr site has a picture or two of its interior, but I would have no idea how to find them.
08/05/2011
Here’s an image of its construction:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/north-carolina-state-archives/2333798106/in/set-72157604115767838
08/05/2011
Here’s an interior view of the main banking floor. Photo taken in 1918 of an NC State poultry exhibit. Nonetheless, in spite of the incongruity of the subject matter, you can get a good idea of the lavish splendor of the interior space. It remained so until the building’s demolition decades later, minus the chickens, of course. http://historicalstate.lib.ncsu.edu/catalog/0007562
I have seen other photos of the Commercial Bank interior, and will publish them here if I can find them.
08/05/2011
It was on Wilmington St. I think at the corner of Martin (but not absolutely sure of that), and it was demolished. I remember reading about it being demolished. It was a bank when it was demolished, but again I’m not sure what’s there now. That area changes so quickly.
08/05/2011
I remeber going downtown and watching it. Funny thing is First Citizens had a bunch of people on the roof a building or parking deck nearby and they got chocked out by the dust. IIRC, the demo contract was with DH Griffin and it was actually imploded by Controlled Demolition, Inc owned by the Loizeaux family and probably the most well known explosive demo company.
08/06/2011
“It is so hot here I can hardly stand it.” Well, at least some things about Raleigh never change!
Raleigh Boy, I love the photo of the chickens in the bank … gives a whole new meaning to the term “nest egg.”
08/07/2011
We watched the demolition from Moore Square. In a big cloud of dust it was all gone.
08/08/2011
MJ — thanks for your handwriting decoding services — I’ll def look to you for help in the future!
NCSU and Brian — yes! You have pegged it! Here’s a pic of what First Citizens Bank had planned for the site. http://www.emporis.com/application/?nav=image&id=380037 Thank goodness it never got built. ;)
Lee and Al — thanks for sharing your recollections of the demo. I saw a video once of the implosion — all the Bank shirts were on the roof of the parking deck and applauded wildly when the charge went off — and then were immediately engulfed in a dense cloud of demo dust. Sweet irony! — I laughed my head off!
Dev Mead — you got that straight brothuh!
08/08/2011
Still makes me sick that this building is gone. Id trade it for RBC in a second. Its funny how twenty years ago no preservationist was able to save it and now you cant even tear down a one story brick warehouse to build something else. Errrrrr!
08/09/2011
JACKPOT!
The Library of Congress has LOTS of good images and drawings.
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/NC0530/
02/27/2012
Whoa, another piece of Americana I have a portion of… well in a sense. My Grandparents had a paper weight from the era. In it is a picture much like this one although much darker. Don’t remember the inscription exactly but do believe it to be the same building. One of my brothers has it… will have to check into it.
05/10/2013
I actually found my photos of the demolition and put them on Vine to create vid. vine.co/v/b07DPmtVEvI
These were taken from roof of Capitol Apartments about 3 blocks away.
Terrible to see it destroyed because they did not want to spend money to renovate. Beautiful Limestone building.