Western German Savings Bank, Covington, Kentucky

I dodged the rain yesterday and got some much-delayed fieldwork completed, and on my slow, meandering route home (eschewing the Interstate for Dixie Highway and briefly heading north instead of south…) I found a beautiful historic building.

Now, if you are not a first time visitor to Gardens to Gables, you know very well that this is not an uncommon occurrence. Historic buildings of all kinds delight me and fill me with joy, but this brick flatiron building deserves a special mention. And, despite the fact that it has not been surveyed and documented as part of Kentucky’s historic sites inventory,* a wealth of information about its history is available through the Kenton County Public Library.  Please, let’s take a minute to offer hoots and hollers of appreciation to our public libraries!

Side elevation/facade of the former West German Savings Bank, Covington, Kentucky.

Thanks to the “Faces and Places” section of the Kenton County Public Library, I was able to quickly locate salient points of this distinctive building’s history, and view some historic photographs (which sadly, show just how much the surrounding neighborhood was destroyed).

Mid-20th century view of what was then the Security Savings Bank. Image ID di10971, Kenton County Public Library.

Despite some ill-use over the years (the loss of that cornice is a travesty), and the annihilation of its supporting streetscape, the building is still striking. I would suspect Urban Renewal projects to the villain in this re-shaping of an urban neighborhood, but I believe the changes occurred decades earlier, with a 1937 school construction project. The 1994 replacement of that WPA school completely undid the street grid, and I’m amazed the bank building wasn’t bulldozed at that time. (Perhaps it was saved as some sort of mitigation?)

Section from sheet 20 of the 1909 Sanborn Fire Insurance building, showing the bank on its narrow triangular parcel.

Its shape, of course, is undeniably the most noticeable characteristic. The flatiron footprint seems a bit odd today, with all of the open space around the former bank building, but when built, it fit nicely into its urban landscape.

This angle is what caused me to jerk the car to the side of the road…

The West German Savings Bank formed in the West Side neighborhood of Covington in 1908, and in January of that year purchased “the Flat Iron Building at Ninth and Main Streets.”** Trying to figure out the labyrinth of Covington streets on the 1894 Sanborn map versus the present street network began to dull my pleasure in my building find, so suffice to say, that “Flat Iron” building is not this flatiron building!

A mid-20th century view of the bank and the now-missing street that once defined its parcel. This photo appeared in the Kentucky Post and was taken by Ray Hadorn, Image di10975 at the Kenton County Public Library.

I am sure a knowledgeable Covington resident will point out the error in my cartographic explorations, but according to the July 6, 1908 edition of The Kentucky Post, “ground was broken today for the new structure of the Western German Savings Bank at Ninth and Pike-sts. The building will cost about $20,000.”

Main entrance to the bank.

Sadly, my newspaper digging did not reveal an architect associated with the bank building. By the time the building permit was issued, the cost of the building had been cut in half, but at its completion it promised to be “one of the finest of its kind in the city, being three stories high and covering a space in front of about 100 feet.”

Façade and rear elevation.

Stylistically, the bank is a hybrid of ideas, with classical touches at the now-missing cornice and the two main entry doors, and a pared-down, Craftsman Commercial style most evident in the contrasting vertical bands of brick around the window openings, and a belt course at the top of the third floor. Interestingly, there is one arched window on the south elevation of the third story – likely lighting the staircase to the “flats.”

Entranceway to the flats. It’s a terrible replacement door, but thankfully the door hood and sign remain.

Another delicious element of this building is its original multiple use, with the bank on the first floor and flats (or apartments as we would call them now) on the second and third stories. I haven’t been able to figure out the layout and number of apartments on the second and third floors, but managed to locate one “for rent” ad about the flats. In 1940, there was a second floor flat with four rooms and hot water heat, a laundry, and bathroom available for $18. *** Janitor service was provided as well!

Based on the depth of the building and the spacing of the windows, I imagine there was one flat on each of the upper stories.

The one-story addition may be built on the foundation of the bank’s 1913 one story store building.

In 1913, the West German Savings Bank applied for a building permit to construct a one-story store building, further cementing their place as part of the thriving and historically German neighborhood. That identity was under threat just five years later, during World War I. Everything German was suspect, and the board of directors chose to change the name of the institution to “Security Savings Bank.”

Circa 1983 view of the building and its now-lost companions. Image from the West Side/Main Strasse Historic District nomination.

A one-story addition to the building is extant today, but whether or not the original 1913 building is in place underneath an updated facade, I don’t know. It does look like it had a groovy metal or concrete screen added in the 1960s (gone now).

The bank continued to operate until 1987, when it was purchased by Fifth Third of Cincinnati. It is now owned by the Covington Independent Schools Board of Education, and and the one-story addition on the east side of the 1908 bank appears to be in use by the school district.

I don’t know what the future holds for this fantastic building, but I am so glad I got to see it and exercise my little grey cells just a bit in discovering its story.

*The building is located within the West Side/Main Strasse Historic District (listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1983). I assume it is a contributing resource, but alas, the document (as is common with nominations from that time period) does not include a list of resources/addresses and survey forms weren’t mandatory at that time.

**The Kentucky Post, January 24, 1908, page 2.

***The Kentucky Post, January 3, 1910, page 7.