Memory Of The Week: Construction Of Merchant's Bank & Trust Building (1920s)

Editor's Note: As part of an ongoing partnership with our friends at Historic Tuscaloosa, Patch will be bringing you a quick piece of local history per week provided by those working hard to preserve the memories of our community.

TUSCALOOSA, AL — This week's installment of Historic Tuscaloosa's Memory of the Week takes us back almost a century to the origin story of a downtown building many of you will know well.

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The photo provided this week by Historic Tuscaloosa depicts an early stage of the construction of the Merchant's Bank and Trust Building sometime in the early 1920s.

A look at the building during its construction ...

A look at the building today ...

Historic Tuscaloosa's Event & Digital Media Coordinator Sarah-Katherine Helms told Patch that the 10-story bank building at the corner of what is now University Boulevard and Greensboro Avenue in Tuscaloosa was completed in 1925.

Helms also said the building was designed by architect D. O. Whilldin — one of the state's most notable architects who worked on over 400 projects in Birmingham, Gadsden and Tuscaloosa from 1904 until 1962.

In Tuscaloosa, Whilldin's legacy could be seen in the design of the former Tuscaloosa High School, Tuscaloosa City Hall and the Bama Theatre in Tuscaloosa.

Helms went on to say that Merchant's Bank and Trust Co. occupied the city's new skyscraper until 1930 before the bank ultimately failed during the Great Depression.

"First National Bank made good on checks written by Merchant's Bank and Trust Company and moved into the building," Historic Tuscaloosa says in its online archive. "The first floor was used for banking activities, and the upper floors were used for offices. The First National Bank merged with AmSouth Bank, and the building was called the AmSouth Building until 2007 when it was sold to RBC Centura Bank. The bank building stands as a landmark in downtown Tuscaloosa."

Click here to learn more about our friends at Historic Tuscaloosa and be on the lookout for the next installment of our Memory of the Week.

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