JUNE 2004
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Historic DowntownBanking on Change at Congress and StoneTucson’s First Skyscraper Celebrates 75 Yearsby Ken Scoville
The southeast corner would become one of the most valuable corners in the Old Pueblo for banking and commerce with the climax coming just days before the stock market crash of October 29, 1929 with the completion of Tucson’s first skyscraper. Commerce on Congress would move towards the sunrise and the Consolidated’s new location would become the town center with improving business throughout Tucson in the first decades of the twentieth century. This success would bring about the construction of a three-story building just to the east in 1912. Just two years before, Mr. Freeman had resigned his position as president and Albert Steinfeld would apply his unique perspective as a successful merchant to the bank as its new leader. The classical revival style of the bank structure would yield to progress and a larger presence on the corner. In 1917 the structure was enlarged and updated; its Corinthian-style structure was typical of banking institutions across the country at the time, and in keeping with the newest trends in the industry. The adjacent three-story building has seen several uses during 92 years of existence since its construction during our statehood year. Its most prominent use in the early years was the Western Union Telegraph office. Long before being located at 18 East Congress, the telegraph was an integral part of the Old Pueblo’s past. With the final connection between San Diego and Tucson completed in December 2, 1873, the “iron string” became a major strategic asset during the Apache conflicts and announced to the rest of the world the arrival of the railroad to Tucson in 1880. During World War I the telegram was the unfortunate medium for communicating casualties and was the most difficult task for messengers leaving the Congress Street location by bicycle to deliver. Other tenants in that building, commonly referred to today as the “Annex”, were Tucson Beauty Supply, Given Bros. Shoes, and a music store. In 1953 the building was remodeled to house the National Dollar Store, and by 1960 the current street façade was in place. This was the time when most of the ornate brick work and other details of the store fronts on Congress and around the country were covered up in order to look “modern.” The “Annex” joined the adjacent tower in banking in 1963 as the mortgage loan department for Valley National Bank. More recently, the ground floor served as the offices of the Tucson Arts District Partnership.
The greatest symbol of prosperity in Tucson banking could not survive the Great Depression and by 1935 would be bought by the Valley National Bank, which was acquired in 1993 by Bank One. The Consolidated National Bank was history but seventy-five years later its name is still memorialized on the gate to Bank One’s lobby vault. The tower was the scene of an infamous cinematic murder in 1956, when the film “A Kiss Before Dying” was shot in Tucson, with the city view from the roof of the tower forming a backdrop to a young Robert Wagner and Joanne Woodward. The tower’s beautiful lobby, with rose- and cedar-colored Tennessee marble columns and paintings depicting the settlement and growth of the Tucson area, is still enchanting. Tucson’s first skyscraper is still the grand dame of the Old Pueblo. In 2002 the bank tower was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. |
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he only constant in the arena of commerce is change. This drama has been played out vividly on Congress Street with what is now the Bank One building in the lead role. The southeast corner of Congress and Stone was considered almost out-of-town in 1870 with horse corrals being a major feature east of Stone on Broadway (Camp Street) as well as Congress Street. No matter what the era, the changing values of commerce dictate the types of businesses and the structures that represent and shelter the wares and services offered. Often the new business will drastically change the exterior and interior of the building, not only to provide the necessary functions for the new entity but out of the desire to be modern and thus be perceived as successful. 
All the years of expansion and new construction at the southeast corner of Congress and Stone would reach a dramatic conclusion on October 11, 1929, with the grand opening of Tucson’s first skyscraper. The Old Pueblo’s rapid growth and the expanding national boom would be symbolized by the “new” Consolidated National Bank, designed by the Los Angeles firm of Walker & Eisen. Its three-part vertical composition was similar to that of office towers being built around the country at that time. Boosters raved, “This building will not only be the showplace of the city, but of the state of Arizona” and “Phoenix will have nothing on us.” This Italian Renaissance Revival style landmark would cost $1,000,000 to construct and was an unbelievable change for old-timers who could still remember horse corrals on both Congress and Broadway.