6. Exchange Bank/Lion Oil Building
Washington Avenue at Oak Street
(now First Financial Centre)
Built from 1926 – 27
Venetian Gothic with Art Deco accents
by Mann & Stern of Little Rock
National Register of Historic Places, 1986 |
Designed to accommodate the bustling oil community’s financial needs, this limestone-façade building is the tallest in El Dorado at eight stories. Col. T. H. Barton established the Exchange Bank in 1924, and later became president of Lion Oil Company as well, thus housing his petroleum company’s corporate headquarters here until the 1970’s. (Fun Fact: Lion Oil spelled backward still spells Lion Oil!) In 1993, the Exchange Bank moved a few blocks north, changing to Citizens First Bank and is now Regions Bank. The historic building was renamed First Financial Centre in 1998.
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