Old Second National Bank

Built in 1924, the Old Second National Bank is one of George Grant Elmslie's significant Prairie style designs, showing notable Prairie features such as openings with terra cotta ornament and sculpture integrated into the design to represent the bank's uses and purposes. William George, the bank's president from 1895 to 1933, chose Elmslie to create a structure that would grow old with dignity and charm while expressing a new spirit in commerce, the arts, and the community's social welfare. In 1925 the building stood as the cornerstone of a bustling commercial block, though the buildings to the north were later demolished. Its interior is unusual, with an open banking floor from which rows of windows can be seen two stories above, each with a balcony in front, rising to a gabled roof with stained glass visible from the exterior. Although the counters and ceiling have been altered, the walls remain divided into squares with a piece of colored ceramic tile set in each corner as part of the original Prairie style interior, and large murals depicting life in the riverside settlements that eventually became the City of Aurora form an impressive decorative feature.

Aurora, Illinois · United States