National Register Listing

First National Bank

157--163 Main St., Lewiston, ME

The building is primarily significant for its architectural design which consists of a French-inspired neo-classical facade that is unlike any other building of this period in Maine.

Historically, the building is significant as the home of one of the earliest banks in Lewiston. Established in 1852 as the Lewiston Falls Bank, this corporation provided much of the capital essential to launch the city's industrial growth in the decade before the Civil War. Its organizers included many of the city's leading capitalists. Chartered as the First National Bank in 1864, it continued to grow with the city. Norstar Bank, the present occupant, is the direct descendant of the original bank.

Local significance of the building:
Architecture

Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.