{"nrhp_refnum":"95001251","name":"Butler County National Bank","other_names":["Butler Branch Mellon Bank"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"302 S. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Butler","county":"Butler County","state":"PA","lat":40.85811406200003,"lon":-79.89509313899998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-11-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A six-story brick and stone former bank building at the high point of Main Street beside the Butler County Courthouse in Butler, Pennsylvania, now known as the Lafayette Building. It was constructed in 1902-03 and was Butler's first skyscraper.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is locally significant for its French Renaissance Revival architecture, which dominates the city skyline next to the courthouse. It also argues the building is significant as an important commercial institution during the region's turn-of-the-century oil and gas boom.","narrative":"Built in 1902-03 on a corner of Main and Diamond Streets in Butler, Pennsylvania, this six-story brick and limestone bank building was the city's first skyscraper. Its curved northeast corner faces Diamond Park, and its Main and Diamond Street elevations carry French Renaissance Revival ornament, including Indiana limestone first-story facades, carved consoled pediments, and a stamped copper cornice. The building was designed by Mowbray and Uffinger and built by H.L. Shenk Company. It was the home of the Butler County National Bank, founded in 1890 by oil investors during the region's boom, and it housed the Butler post office from 1903 to 1913. The building is regarded as the second most prominent architectural landmark in the city, after the courthouse next door. Its prominence and its link to the oil-era banking economy are the reasons given for its listing. Later remodelings altered the interior, but the exterior retains much of its original character and presence.","period_of_significance":"1903-1945","architect_builder":"Mowbray and Uffinger (architects); Shenk, H.L., Company (builder)","architectural_style":"French Renaissance Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Converted to an apartment building in a 1992-93 historic rehabilitation.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:36.436442-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/95001251.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95001251/92db929f39-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95001251/92db929f39-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Butler_County_National_Bank.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Butler_County_National_Bank.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"03000490","name":"Butler Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/butler-historic-district-03000490/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71994861","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butler_County_National_Bank","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5002603"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/butler-county/butler-county-national-bank-95001251/"}