Some cool registering a business images:
DC - Georgetown: Riggs Bank
Image by wallyg
The old Farmers and Mechanics Branch of Riggs Bank, at 1201 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, on the corner of M Street, was built in 1921-22. Located at the major commercial intersection of Georgetown, the gold-leafed dome and neoclassical design by Marsh and Peter have become familiar symbols of the Georgetown neighborhood. Today it is a PNC Bank branch.
Riggs National Bank is the oldest continuously operating bank in Washington, dating to 1836 when William Wilson Corcoran opened a note brokerage house. In 1840, he entered into a partnership with George Washington Riggs, Jr., son of a prominent New York banker, offering checking and depositing services Corcoran & Riggs Bank became an official depository of the U.S. treasury, began overseas transactions and helped finance Samuel Morse's invention of the telegraph in 1845, and the Mexican War in 1847. Corcoran retired in 1854 and the firm became Riggs & Company. George Riggs led the 1867 syndicate that raised .2 million in gold bullion for the Alaska Purchase. In the 1920s, Riggs National Bank introduced savings accounts, opened a trust department, and purchased two other local banks, creating a branch banking network. In 1930, the firm acquired the Famrers of and Mechanics Bank of Georgetown, a congressionally chartered bank established in February 1814, which helped finance the War of 1812. After several notable scandals dealing with the embassy business in the early 2000s, Riggs Bank was bought by PNC for 9 million on July 16, 2004.
Twenty-two U.S. Presidents or their families banked at Riggs, including John Tyler, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Accounts were also held by Senators Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and Daniel Webster, Confederate president Jefferson Davis, American Red Cross founder Clara Barton, suffragist Susan B. Anthony, and generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Douglas MacArthur.
The Georgetown Historic District, roughly bounded by Reservoir Rd., NW, and Dumbarton Oaks Park on the north; Rock Creek Park on the east; the Potomac River on the south; and Glover-Archbold Parkway on the west, encompassses the area laid out as a prosperous port town in 1751 prior to the establishment of the Distrcict of Columbia, and later assimilated into the city of Washington in 1871. Today, the primary commercial corridors of Georgetown are M Street and Wisconsin Avenue, which contain high-end shops, bars, and restaurants. Georgetown is home to the main campus of Georgetown University, the Old Stone House, the oldest standing building in Washington, and the embassies of France, Mongolia, Sweden, Thailand, and Ukraine.
Georgetown Historic District National Register #67000025 (1967)
Colorado - Idaho Springs: Normandeau/Rohner Building
Image by wallyg
The Normandeau/Rohner Building, at 1617 Miner Street, was built in 1881 and opened by William and Edward Normandeau. The first business in the building was a dry-goods store, which also sold boots and shoes. Within a decade, it became the "Golden Rule Store." At the turn of the century, John Rohner, a bartender next door at Worth's saloon, opened up a competing saloon here. It was Rohner who added the elaborate front for his "high class" saloon/billiard parlor. Rohner was also a well-known boxer who fought for the heavyweight championship of the world in 1900.
The building is a one and one-half story rectangular brick structure built in the commercial vernacular style. It contains some of the most exquisite architectural details of the Victorian era. There is a small, round, arched window with brick arch, radiating voussoirs with keystone in the upper façade, bracketed cornice and paneled frieze decorated with swags.
The Idaho Springs Downtown Commercial District, roughly bound by Center Alley, 14th Avenue, Riverside Drive, and Idaho Street, has been the commercial center of the community since its development in the late 19th century. The Idaho Springs downtown area, with its collection of Late Victorian-Era structures, formed the core of a city where prospector George A. Jackson made the first placer gold discovery in Colorado. It went on to serve as an important milling and supply center for the mining region which accelerated the settlement of Colorado.
Idaho Springs Downtown Commercial District #84000801 (1984)
