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(P. P. Chamberlain, the proprietor, was the bank's vice-president). Throughout <br />the next forty years, George Ross and his sons maintained law offices on the <br />second floor of the bank building. George’s brother, Dr. Joseph L. Ross, M. D., <br />was the bank's first president. <br /> <br />After the Rosses’ retirement, the offices were occupied by Reg McGovern and <br />Paul McCloskey, Sr. In 1899 Dr. Ross also purchased the adjoining lot on <br />Broadway and constructed a two-story brick building with a cast iron front. Ross <br />used the second floor for his medical offices. During the 1906 earthquake the <br />front of the Ross building suffered minor damage, but the front of the bank <br />building and some of the side stone peeled off, and the dome with its flagpole lay <br />damaged in the middle of the intersection. Nevertheless the basic structure stood <br />strong. Immediately, both buildings were restored. The bank was doing business <br />at the site by June 1906. <br /> <br />In 1904 the San Mateo County Savings Bank was organized under the same <br />bank management and functioned in conjunction with the commercial bank. The <br />banks purchased the adjoining Ross building and re-hired Coffey to design an <br />overall 55 foot facade on Broadway. Brown was also rehired as contractor. To <br />commemorate the renovation a carved stone eagle standing over a shield dated <br />1910 A.D. was recessed in the upstairs-office entry closed by the remodeling. In <br />a similar manner to the corner entry the words SAN MATEO COUNTY SAVINGS <br />BANK were inscribed above the colonnade which replaced the lower Ross <br />frontage. When completed, the two buildings appeared as though they had been <br />built simultaneously. In the fall of 1941 the bank (by then called the First National <br />Bank) moved across the street into a nondescript Moderne building (razed in <br />1974). Louis A. Behrens, the son of the bank's first Cashier and Manager, <br />purchased the old bank for sentimental reasons. <br /> <br />This landmark commercial building at 2000 Broadway occupies a strategic <br />position at the intersection of Broadway and Main Street in the heart of Redwood <br />City's downtown business district. It consists of two buildings, both of which have <br />been altered extensively. The building had two stories and a flat roof with a <br />parapet. The parapet is punctuated with a series of balusters. Stucco scored to <br />suggest masonry blocks covers the exterior. Classical details and window trim <br />are picked out in white. The window sash is blue. The building's dominant feature <br />is its corner turret, designed to be visible from either Main Street or Broadway. <br />Ionic columns on bases support the turret's second- story. Behind these columns, <br />the main first floor entry is recessed within the body of the turret. Three double- <br />hung windows line the second floor, and in the frieze of the turret reads the <br />legend, "Erected A. D. 1900." A small round dome with three dormers protruding <br />and classical ornamentation crowns the turret. Seen from Main Street, the east <br />facade has two triangular pediments located at the parapet line, each supported <br />by thick brackets. These brackets and a prominent dentil band line both <br />pediments and the building's entire cornice. <br /> <br />Page 17 <br />7.B. - Page 28