Description
John C. Higgins took this photograph, probably shortly after he moved to Bath in 1876.
The Sagadahock Bank building at the southwest corner of Front and Centre Streets was gone by 1878, replaced with a new Francis Fassett-designed structure.
The building had been acquired by the Sagadahock Bank in 1859. This building had been constructed by William King in 1809 and 1810, the first brick building in this central business district.
The front facade was on Centre Street, facing north. The portico, the large 6-over-6 windows, and the dentillated cornice all suggest that the Federal-style structure, known as the Bath Bank Block, was updated to reflect the popular Greek-Revival architectural style.
Other businesses that were using space in this and neighboring structure include Freeman C. Curtis, ship broker; Warren Hawthorne, tailor, in the 1863 Church Block to the left of the Sagadahock National Bank; and M. H. Neal, milliner, in the Neal Block farther south on Front Street.
Initially the lower floor was the home of the Bath Bank, chartered in 1812. William King was the sole president of the institution from 1812 until 1831 when the bank's charter expired, except for a brief period in 1821
The eagle that graced the pediment of the Bank, also visible from an image dating from the 1850s, was moved to the northern facade of the Lincoln Block when it was finished in 1878. Now the eagle is part of the Maine Maritime Museum's collection.
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