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/"" """"" .......,.i ........" I. FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF SAN MATEO/FITZPATRICK BUILDING; 2'00)-12 Broadway The story of the First National Bank Building on the corner of Broadway and Main Street spans a period of nearly 90 yrs. Prior to the construction of this regal building in 1899, that corner saw the first general store in Redwood City in 1852 (Wm. Shaw Trading Post). In 1868 it was joined to the new Grand Hotel. It burned 29 yrs later. It then became the site of the community bandstand until Ludwig Behrens purchased it as the site for the first bank between San Francisco and San Jose. It was constructed of Utah stone by A.E. Brady of San Francisco, and in January 1900 the copper sheathed dome was completed. By 1910 the bank was in business. Ludwig Behrens, who arrived in Redwood City in 1896, was a dedicated and ambitious man. He gave of his time and efforts tirelessly to his fellow men, as a prominent churchman, businessman, and civic leader. On December 23, 1923, his life ended as a result of an auto accident. His son, Louis Behrens, later served in his father's bank, and was a Trustee of the elementary school board. He is retired and lives with his wife Clara, a former Redwood City school teacher, on Edgewood Road. The importance of the building and site are three-fold: The historic site was on the edge of the town where water commerce was important (the Redwood City creek turning basin), and it had many uses. The man who is represented by the building was an important community leader. (The entire town closed down for his funeral.) The architectural importance of the building lies in its representation of a period of romanesque architecture when allover this country civic buildings emulated classical Greek and Roman structures. Very few have survived. The Fitzpatrick Building is a two-story, romanesque-styled building cons- tructed of brick in 1862. The facade:is attractive ~an brick and is of the same scale and compatible detail to the Bank of San Mateo County next door. Interior drug store furnishings dating from the 1890's remain unaltered. The exterior is also unaltered with a leaded stained-glass window still in place over the display windows. Situated in the heart of Redwood City's commercial core, this building was once the location of one of the ~own's two drugstores. A.D. Walsh moved his Pioneer Drugstore here in 1892 when this part of Broadway's eastern terminus was Main Street. Pioneer Drugstore has its roots in the 1850's. It had several owners. In 1915, Cyrus Young purchased this pharmacy from Walsh. The name was changed to Young's Drugstore in that year and the new name stuck until the store closed in the 1950's-regardless of the change of ownership twice in that period. The store has remained vacant except for storage since that time. Space on the second floor once housed a lawyer's office. HISTORIC PRESERVATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE Page 2