United States National Bank – S.W. 6th Street at Stark Street, Portland, Oregon

The 13th bank to open in Portland was the United States National Bank of Oregon which was incorporated on November 10, 1890. The bank opened for business on February 9, 1891 in the Kamm Building on First Street. Two years later, the panic of 1893 hit many banks and operations were suspended, but the United States National Bank managed to remain open. In 1902, U.S. National merged with the Ainsworth National Bank.

Built under the direction of A.E. Doyle, one of the West Coast’s leading architects , the United States National Bank building was completed in 1917. The building’s design was directly inspired by McKim, Mead and White’s Knickerbocker Trust Building (1904) in New York City, one of the landmarks of American Renaissance architecture. When building opened for business on July 30, 1917, it was the first edifice in Portland constructed with a steel frame. The facing is of a pinkish-grey glazed architectural terra cotta. The free standing columns on the building’s exterior are of Corinthian design with modified capitals. Each of the columns is four stories (54 ft.) high, and supports a massive portico with a richly decorated entablature. Among the decorations are: lion heads and palmettes at the cornice; dentils directly below; and a frieze with an enriched foliated rinceau.

By 1920, the leaders of the bank decided it was time to expand and they purchased the quarter block on the southwest corner of the block from the Elks Lodge. Construction began early in 1924. The same artisans and craftsmen who built the original building were commissioned to duplicate the ornate interior.