First National Bank Building

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, Canyon City had itself a moment in 1900. Two years after the Santa Fe Railway came stretching its tracks down from Amarillo, a rancher and banker by the name of L.T.

Lester looked around and decided this town needed something serious. Something that said: we are here, and we mean business. So he founded the Stockman's National Bank.

By 1904, it had grown into the First National Bank of Canyon City, and Lester wasn't done yet. Not by a long shot. He wanted a building to match the ambition.

So he went and hired a St. Louis architect named R.G. Kirsch, the very same man who designed the Randall County courthouse, and he said, build me a showplace.

Kirsch obliged. The building was completed in 1909, and when folks walked past it, they noticed. Doric columns and pilasters out front, a dentil course running along the top, stone coping and window surrounds that told you somebody had thought hard about every single detail.

It housed the bank, sure, but it made room for other commercial enterprises too. That building was pulling its weight from the start. The bank itself moved out in 1951, and over the years other businesses came and went and settled in, each one finding shelter under those sturdy Neoclassical bones.

And here's the thing about a building that's built right: it outlasts every argument about whether it was worth it. That structure is still standing on the Canyon City streetscape, still a commercial landmark, Doric columns and all, reminding anyone who cares to look that L.T. Lester wanted something that would last.

Looks like Kirsch delivered.

What the marker says

In 1900, two years after the Santa Fe Railway extended its tracks from Amarillo to Canyon City, rancher and banker L.T. Lester established the Stockman's National bank; it became First National Bank of Canyon City in 1904. Lester commissioned St. louis architect R.G. Kirsch, designer of the Randall County courthouse, to design this showplace bank building. It was completed in 1909 and provided sace for the bank as well as other commercial enterprises. The bank moved out in 1951, and over the years other businesses occupied the space. The Neoclassical structure remains a commercial landmark. It features Doric colmuns and pilasters, a dentil course, and stone coping and window surrounds. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark-2005