Buffalo Savings Bank is an important Buffalo, NY landmark, and now a branch of M&T Bank. Its style is inspired by the 1893 World Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
While the outside is magnificent – that’s real gold leaf on the dome – the interior is breathtaking! (Even more remarkable, the bank permits photography inside. What a difference from New York City attitudes – but that’s a story unto itself.) Murals under the dome depict signs of the zodiac and scenes of local industry, history and commerce.
From humble beginnings – just six depositors at opening – Buffalo Savings Bank grew to national prominence as Gold Dome Bank for Savings through a series of mergers. Alas, the mergers were the bank’s undoing, and Gold Dome was liquidated in 1991.
The building is just one of many architectural surprises awaiting anyone who visits Buffalo.
Buffalo Savings Bank Vital Statistics
- Location: 545 Main Street at E Huron Street (Buffalo, NY)
- Year completed: 1901
- Architect: E.B. Green & W.S. Wicks
- Floors: 3
- Style: Classical/Beaux Arts
Buffalo Savings Bank Recommended Reading
- Wikipedia entry
- Architect William S. Wicks website
- Stay Adventurous blog
- Buffalo: Lake City in Niagara Land reprint (1981)
- Buffalo’s Best website (The Preservation Coalition of Erie County)
- Emporis database
- Buffalo Architecture: A Guide