10/11/2022
On Monday, October 10, 1892, exactly 130 years ago today, the City Bank Building opened its doors for business at 1300 Market Street to considerable fanfare. It was immediately recognized as the "finest" building in Wheeling and, at 125 feet, it was for several years the tallest "business building" in the State of West Virginia. This six-story building was constructed for a cost of $80,000 by The City Bank of Wheeling, but the bank occupied only the 1st floor and basement (where the vault was/is located). Floors 2-6 were occupied by a who's-who of Wheeling businesses and medical practitioners at the time. No expense was spared in its construction, including shipping 600 tons of granite from New England to comprise its Richardsonian Romanesque façade. Its architect was Edward Bates Franzheim, arguably Wheeling's finest ever, when he was just starting out in private practice in his early 20s.
Though built to impress through the ages and suggest a strong financial institution, its use as a bank lasted only 26 years. In 1918, the City Bank of Wheeling merged with Dollars Savings & Trust Co. (a predecessor to WesBanco) and relocated out of the building. A new holding company was formed to own the building, and it continued on as a prominent office building in Wheeling, eventually housing the now-defunct Wheeling Stock Exchange. In the mid 20th Century, it was purchased by Dr. N. K. Joseph, who opened his eye practice on the 4th floor. The building was renamed The Professional Building. In 1982, Dr. Joseph sold it to his son and daughter-in-law, Dr. Robert and Cheryl Joseph. At the time it housed a variety of medical offices, including the younger Dr. Joseph's. In 2013, it was acquired by Market Street Now, LLC. At the time, all tenants had vacated and/or ceased operations. The former medical office on the 1st floor was repurposed into a coworking suite that today is at full occupancy; the 2nd floor has become the residence of its owners. Plans are in place to replace its ornate roof in 2023 and to continue additional interior and exterior improvements going forward.
An 1892 newspaper account of the building is shared in its entirety below:
WHEELING DAILY REGISTER, THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 1892
The New City Bank
The Building Rapidly Approaching Completion—As Handsome Inside as Out.
The new City Bank building, which has attracted so much favorable comment from both citizens and strangers since its handsome front was erected, is rapidly approaching completion, especially as regards its upper floors, and there is no doubt about the various apartments being ready for the tenants the first of April. The banking apartment, and the entrance hall, upon the first floor, are not so far advanced, but the next two weeks will see that portion of the edifice also well on toward completion.
A reporter for the REGISTER made a tour of the building yesterday, and found all the interior fittings and finish in harmony with the beautiful exterior. The banking room, which takes up four-fifths of the first floor, will be floored in tiles, and finished in hard wood, making a spacious and handsome apartment. The ceiling was about finished yesterday. It is a brilliant white, surrounded with a modest yet striking cornice, and its treatment adds to the appearance of the room. The vaults in the rear, both for the use of the bank and for the private papers, etc., of depositors, are seemingly impregnable to anything but a card load of dynamite. In the rear of the vaults is the private consulting room, lavatory, etc. Below, in the cellar, is the steam plant supplying the pumps, etc., and about midway of the basement is the artesian well, which yesterday was yielding a bountiful supply of clear water. This water supplies the entire building, being pumped throughout the edifice, and is present in every apartment. The elevator is also run by it. This elevator was running yesterday, and shoots passengers up stairs rapidly and pleasantly. It is of the Otis high speed build, and is situated immediately alongside the stairway, in the hall.
There are six rooms upon the second, third and fourth floors for the use of tenants, five upon the fifth floor, and two upon the sixth, and all are rented, the complete list of tenants having been heretore published in this paper. All are finished in oiled pine, except one, the room taken by Dr. Mason, which has handsome oak fittings and a hard wood floor.
The lavatory and retiring room is at the rear of the building, on the fifth floor, and the plumbing there, as is the case throughout the edifice, is of the best description, every convenience being afforded. The plumbing was done by Trimble & Lutz, and was quite a large contract.
The view from the upper windows of the The Professional Buildingg, and especially from the sixth story, is a great one, nearly the entire city being visible on a clear sunny day, as well as a wide stretch of river and Ohio hills. In summer the prospect will be a charming one, indeed.
