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Mellon National Bank Building

Buildings and structures in PittsburghCity of Pittsburgh historic designationsCommercial buildings completed in 1924Neoclassical architecture in PennsylvaniaPittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmarks
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Mellon National Bank Building Pittsburgh
Mellon National Bank Building Pittsburgh

Mellon National Bank Building (also known as Lord & Taylor Department Store) at 514 Smithfield Street in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was completed in 1924 after Mellon acquired the property in August 1916 from the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad which had their regional offices on the site. Prior to the B&O office the site was the original home to the city's first public high school (Central High) which opened in the fall of 1855. The Classical styled building was designed by architects Trowbridge & Livingston with Edward Mellon. It was added to the List of Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmarks in 1976, and the List of City of Pittsburgh historic designations in July 1999.On July 30, 1999, May & Co. bought the structure for $9.250 million from Mellon ending branch services at the site. The building was converted into a multi-level department store despite the protests of historical preservationists. It opened as Lord & Taylor on November 1, 2000, after a $12 million refurbishment (18.9 million in 2021 dollars).On May 31, 2012 PNC Financial Services purchased the structure after Lord & Taylor closed in 2004.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Mellon National Bank Building (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Mellon National Bank Building
Smithfield Street, Pittsburgh

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N 40.44035 ° E -79.998155555556 °
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Mellon National Bank Building

Smithfield Street 500
15222 Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania, United States
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Mellon National Bank Building Pittsburgh
Mellon National Bank Building Pittsburgh
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Frick Building
Frick Building

The Frick Building is one of the major distinctive and recognizable features of Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The tower was built by and is named for Henry Clay Frick, an industrialist coke producer who created a portfolio of commercial buildings in Pittsburgh. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The tower was built directly adjacent to a building owned by his business partner and rival Andrew Carnegie, on the site of Saint Peter Episcopal Church. Frick, who feuded with Carnegie after they split as business associates, had the building designed to be taller than Carnegie's in order to encompass it in constant shadow.The Frick Building was opened on March 15, 1902 and originally had twenty floors. It was the tallest building in the city at that time. A leveling of the surrounding landscape that was completed in 1912 caused the basement to become the entrance, so some sources credit the building with twenty-one stories. It rises 330 feet (101 m) above Downtown Pittsburgh. Its address is 437 Grant Street, and is also accessible from Forbes and Fifth Avenues. The building's architect was Daniel H. Burnham of D.H. Burnham & Company, Chicago. Of the eleven executed designs for Pittsburgh by D.H. Burnham & Company, the Frick Building is one of only seven survivors.The top floor, which was reserved for The Union Club of Pittsburgh, includes a balcony around the perimeter of the building, a high, handcrafted ceiling, and heavy, elaborate brass door fixtures. Originally, H.C. Frick used it as his personal office and as a meeting place and social club for wealthy industrialists. On the 19th floor was Frick's personal shower. At the time, no other shower had been built that high above ground level, because water could not easily be pumped that high with the technology of the time. The shower, non-functioning, still exists on the 19th floor today. Fittingly for a building created for a man who vowed to be a millionaire by age thirty, the lobby features an elegant stained-glass window by John LaFarge, depicting "Fortune and Her Wheel" (1902). The two bronze sentinel lions (1904) in the lobby were created by sculptor Alexander Proctor. A bust of Frick by sculptor Malvina Hoffman (1923) is displayed in the rear lobby, which extends from Forbes to Fifth Avenue.For a time, the building was home to the headquarters for Frick's family whiskey business, Old Overholt. The headquarters oversaw a network of sales offices around the United States.