Father Pitt

This is now the Carson City Saloon, because everything on the South Side eventually becomes a bar. But the whole building shouts “bank.” It’s built from classical elements like a Venetian Renaissance palace.

Addendum: The architect was the prolific Charles Bickel.¹

The date stone tells us that the bank was put up in 1896, with palm fronds signifying victory, and anti-pigeon spikes signifying “We hate pigeons.”

This ornamental ironwork is meant to evoke the balconies on a Renaissance palace, without actually being useful as a balcony.

1. Source: Record & Guide, February 26, 1896, p. 169. “Architect Charles Bickell [sic] has plans for a banking house for the German Savings and Deposit Bank, at Carson Street. The structure is to be 43 x 64.5 feet, one-story brick, terra cotta and stone, composition roof, and all the latest bank improvements, and cost $100,000.” ↩︎