Professional Building/City Bank, 1300 Market St.

 

The City Bank of Wheeling first began business in July 1886 and was located at 1316 Market Street. Early officers were Henry K. List, President; Ambrose S. List, Vice President; and R.C. Dalzell, Cashier.

 

Henry Kilbourne List (1821 – 1900) began his career in wholesale groceries and built what is now called the Wheeling Artisan Center at the corner of 14th and Main Streets. He lived at 827 Main Street, the North Wheeling house that was later used as the Red Cross building. By 1885 Henry K. List and his son, Ambrose S. List, had secured the controlling interest in The City Bank of Wheeling.  Henry K. List served as its president, and his son was Vice-President. Through Mr. List’s efforts, a new six-story bank building was constructed in 1891.  This structure was described as the finest office building in the city and was said to have been the tallest building in the state when it was built. It is classified as a “contributing structure” in the Wheeling Historic District.

 

Henry K. List died in 1900 and was survived by his wife and four of their eleven children.  The governor of West Virginia said of him: “No man in Wheeling will be more generally missed and his death will therefore be universally deplored.  He had no enemies and all who knew him were his friends.  Along with the thousands of other people I feel that my best friend is gone.”

 

Henry’s son Ambrose became president of the bank after his father’s death.  A report the following year (1901) showed that the bank had resources amounting to $1,651,117.64. On August 31, 1918, Dollar Savings and Trust acquired the City Bank of Wheeling. Along with other banks, they now form Wesbanco.

 

The noted Wheeling architectural firm of Franzheim, Giesey, and Faris (Edward Bates Franzheim, Millard F. Giesey, and Fredric F. Faris) designed the building at 1300 Market Street. The three men have been described as “the state’s leading architectural triumvirate.” Among other downtown buildings, this triumvirate also designed the English Lutheran Church (35 16th Street), the Bank of Wheeling (1229 Main Street), and Stone & Thomas Department Store (1130 Main Street).

 

Contractor/stone mason Patrick J. Gilligan did the stonework on the City Bank Building. Gilligan (1848 – 1924) was born in Ireland and immigrated to the United States as a young man. He worked first in Pittsburgh and then moved to Wheeling, where he founded the General Contracting Company around 1879. Among other commercial buildings and homes, he built St. Matthews Church (which was also designed by Franzheim).

 

Wheeling city directories suggest that after the bank merger of 1918, the building was used as commercial office space. By the early 1920s, the building held the offices of some 22 businesses, including accountants, physicians, attorneys, realtors, insurance agents, a dentist, agents for the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Company, a ceramic broker, and the office of the Anti Saloon League of West Virginia. Directories from later years showed a similar mix of office use.

 

Sources           

• Cranmer, Gibson Lamb, History of Wheeling City and Ohio County, WV, 1902, Chapter 21. URL: http://www.lindapages.com/wags-ohio/how-21.htm
• West Virginia Vital Records: http://www.wvculture.org/vrr
• Wheeling Artisan Center: http://www.artisancenter.com/history.html
• Wheeling City Directories – various years.
• Wheeling Investment Property: http://www.wheelingwvinvestmentproperty.com/buidlinghistory.html
• Wheeling News Register: March 27, 1924 and March 11, 1973.

 

Trivia:

Henry K. List’s brother was John List (1815 – 1865), a riverboat caption who was killed on the streets of Wheeling by a stray bullet. On July 7, 1865 members of the 36th Ohio Regiment were chasing a number of men who were absent from camp without leave. Shots were fired, and List was mortally wounded.

 

Patrick Gilligan lived at 94-14th Street at the time of his death. That house is one that was saved from demolition by Friends of Wheeling. It is now upscale apartments.

 

Wheeling businessman Howard Corcoran is a grandson of Patrick Gilligan.

 

 

Prepared by Jeanne Finstein

May 2, 2008