Neo-classical

The Sacramento Bank was built in 1914 as a commercial bank in the Oak Park area of Sacramento. At the time of its opening the Oak Park suburb was one of Sacramento’s most prominent neighborhoods. The bank was originally seen as a beacon of the areas thriving business community. It is a one story, triangular shaped building, constructed in the Neo-Classical style by architects James Seadler and Gideon Holt. Neo-classicism was popular at the time, a symbol of strength and stability as well as a marker of resurgence of classical ideas and interests. The bank was constructed with reinforced concrete frame and the exterior of cement plaster. The arched doorway has a series of medallions which mark the founding of the Sacramento Bank in 1867 and the opening of this branch in 1914. Many major modifications have occurred to this building over the years, most notably the loss of the large copper dome in 1947 (these alterations were done by Leonard Starks). Also at this time the interior was completely stripped of the original detailing in favor of modern decorations. Despite the alterations the building retains a level of classical detail and stands today as the only example of neo-classical architecture in Sacramento.

The building is currently a US Bank branch.

Photos courtesy of the Center for Sacramento History.

Currently the Sacramento Grand Ballroom, the firm of Starks & Flanders designed a major addition to the building in 1926. The bank was originally designed by Willis Polk of San Francisco dating back to 1912.  One of the largest banks in California in the 1850s its founder was D.O. Mills, a young New York bank employee who came to California to mine gold. Soon tiring of mining, he opened a mercantile establishment in Sacramento. Mills began storing gold for the miners, and later began buying gold and issuing notes that circulated as money. Within a few years he changed the sign on his building from “store” to “bank.” The Bank of D.O. Mills survived into the 1920s. In 1925 the bank merged with the California National Bank of Sacramento. The intense formalistic use of classical design elements in this building is an excellent example of the Neo-classical Style. It bespeaks strength and permanency befitting the second oldest bank west of the Mississippi. The building later housed the Security Pacific National Bank.