Listed in Arkansas Register of Historic Places on 06/02/95

ELABORATION

The town of Portland was incorporated in 1893, and the first bank, the Portland Bank, opened in 1900 with J.D. Dean as president. A disastrous fire in 1907 destroyed this building along with eleven other businesses, two dwellings, a hotel, and a warehouse. The current face of the Portland Bank dates to 1925 when the owners hired a prominent Little Rock architect, John Parks Almand, to design the new front. Almand’s work reflects a rare subtype of the Art Deco style, which was found infrequently in Arkansas and typically only on architect-designed public buildings. While the Portland Bank undoubtedly draws upon the Charles Thompson-designed 1904 Fordyce House (NR 08/06/75) for inspiration, the Egyptian Revival scheme as executed by Almand is unique to the Art Deco movement in Arkansas.

The Portland Bank is not eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places because of the significant remodeling done to the main part of the building in 1963. However, the facade retains its historic integrity and remains a rare, yet excellent, example of the Egyptian Revival style, influenced by the Art Deco movement, and is thus a property worthy of the Arkansas Register of Historic Places.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Information submitted by Robert D. Pugh.