Bank of Ensley
The Bank of Ensley was a bank founded by Erskine Ramsay and George McCormack with Robert Chadwick in 1900. A branch office, managed by H. J. Cummings, was located in Wylam. The bank's slogan was "Strong enough to protect you. Large enough to serve you. Small enough to know you."
In 1906 the Bank of Ensley merged with the First National Bank of Ensley. The president of that company, Gordon Dubose, was arrested later that year on a charge of embezzling $40,000 of his bank's money prior to the merger.
In 1917 the bank constructed a new monumental Beaux-Arts style marble-clad building at 19th Street and Avenue E in downtown Ensley.
In 1929 the bank moved across the same intersection to the ground floor of the new 10-story Ramsay-McCormack building. The effects of the Great Depression, however, forced the bank to close its doors on January 11, 1930.
The building was later used by the First National Bank of Birmingham. Later it was used for storage by the Birmingham Public Library while the Ensley Library and East Ensley Library underwent renovations.
The building is currently the home of the Monumental Contracting Company, which performed a restoration.
The Bank of Ensley building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 21, 1984.
References
- "Bank president arrested." (May 27, 1906) The New York Times
- Prince, A. G. (1982) Landmarks of Ensley: Past and Present. revised edition. Ensley: Best Printing Service