An interior view of First National Bank at 10th and Baltimore shows tall marble columns, tellers' windows, a wall clock and a lighted counter for customers' use. Kansas City's business district was rapidly moving south from the Missouri River levee when this bank was built, 1904-1906, far south on 10th Street. Carrie Whitney's Kansas City History, in a chapter titled The Newer City credited the city's 10th Street transformation to construction of the elegant new First National bank building at the northeast corner of 10th and Baltimore. Wilder and Wight were the architects. Swiftly following were the R.A. Long building, costing $1,250,000; the Scarritt building, $750,000; and the National Bank of Commerce, $1,500,000. These marked a new record in the construction of skyscrapers here, if not in other cities, according to Whitney's History. The bank (now Boatmen's First National) retains its pristine interior beauty. Marble is immaculate, old woods polished and a cozy fireplace still graces the president's room. Old postcards proudly picturing the interiors of downtown business houses were popular. John Taylor's Dry Goods, Emery Bird Thayer's, McClintoc's three-story restaurant, the Newman Theater, Jaccard's Jewelry, the Baltimore Hotel and many others have left us these glimpses of the past. Kansas City Times, September 12, 1986.
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