{"nrhp_refnum":"82004964","name":"Lynn Bank Block","other_names":["Essex Trust/Lynn Institution for Savings"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"21--29 Exchange St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lynn","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.46351599800005,"lon":-70.94457308399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-08-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-storey limestone-faced commercial bank building at 21-29 Exchange Street in Lynn, Massachusetts, built in 1891 to designs by architect James T. Kelley, with a one-storey rear addition built in 1931.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the block is tied to the rebuilding of Lynn's commercial district after the Fire of 1889 and to the city's nineteenth-century shoe industry, which its banks helped finance. It was the first building constructed downtown after the fire to use a classical design vocabulary. It also retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials and workmanship.","narrative":"Lynn Bank Block, at 21-29 Exchange Street, is a three-storey bank building with a limestone facade set on a granite plinth. Completed in 1891 to designs by James T. Kelley of Boston, it was the first Classical Revival block in the district rebuilt after the Fire of 1889. Its decoration includes rusticated piers, carved wreaths dated 1814 and 1891, a Palladian window framed by Ionic columns and a modillioned pressed-metal cornice. A one-storey brick addition for banking halls was built at the rear in 1931. The building housed the Lynn Institution for Savings and the Lynn First National Bank, later the Essex Trust Company, until the early 1970s. These institutions were founded by local shoemakers and helped the shoe industry by discounting the credit notes that Southern and Western buyers used to pay manufacturers. Later changes include an elevator in 1941 and a remodeled entry lobby in 1956. Many exterior details and interior features, such as panelled wainscots and ornamental plasterwork, remain.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"James T. Kelley, Architect (1891); Thomas M. James Co. (1931); construction by James E. Manning, mason, and Joseph Breed & Son, carpenters","architectural_style":"Classical Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed as occupied and in good condition with alterations. The east wall and interior of the rear wing were damaged by smoke, water and a collapse from a neighboring fire in 1981.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.916757-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/56/7947/63794756/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/82004964.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004964/c8e4c9b73e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004964/c8e4c9b73e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lynn_Bank_Block,_Lynn_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lynn_Bank_Block,_Lynn_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794756","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Bank_Block","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6708922"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/lynn-bank-block-82004964/"}