First National Bank Building
- Also Known As: Lawyers Building
- Address: 168 - 170 W Main Ave
The First National Bank Building is a seven story high rise located on the north side of West Main Avenue in the heart of downtown Gastonia. It is constructed of cream-colored brick with limestone and terra cotta trim in the Neo-classical architectural style, the preferred mode for office towers in the Carolinas when it was erected in 1916 - 1917. The architectural firm of Wilson and Sompayrac, one of the most distinguished in South Carolina, provided the design. Today, except for changes to the first floor interior and first floor front facade, the building is in good original condition.
The best-preserved elevation today is the rear. It was designed as an exact duplicate of the front, because it faced the railroad tracks that brought most of Gastonia's visitors to town. Throughout the facade the designers used a tripartite theme, making it three bays wide, dividing it horizontally into cornice, body_ and base, and also grouping windows and trim details in threes. - NRHP, 1982