Description of Historic Place

The Bank of Hamilton building is a two-storey, rectangular, stucco-clad building with a corner entry, located on the southwest corner of Alexander and Hudson Streets in the downtown area of Salmon Arm, British Columbia.

Heritage Value

The Bank of Hamilton has historical value as the first financial institution to open in Salmon Arm, establishing itself in 1906, at a time when the community was undergoing its first wave of economic prosperity. The building, constructed in 1910 on a prominent downtown corner lot at Alexander and Hudson Streets, is representative of the importance of this first bank in the growing community.

The building has social value as the home of "the Hamilton", a branch of a banking institution originating in Hamilton, Ontario, and a presence in a number of smaller British Columbia communities prior to the First World War. While not a large bank, it was well established and highly regarded in the community, having a large and loyal customer base. The bank had a series of managers until 1923 when, under the management of Frank Pearson, the bank merged with its rival, the Canadian Bank of Commerce.

Constructed by the contracting firm of Gibbard and Boutwell, the Bank of Hamilton building is representative of an early commercial building in a growing provincial town. Its two-storey, wood-frame, rectangular structure lends the building a sense of importance and landmark status on the street corner, while the diagonal corner entrance opening directly onto the street creates a sense of community.

Source: City of Salmon Arm, Development Services Department

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Bank of Hamilton include its:

Site:
- location on the corner of Alexander and Hudson Streets

Building:
- at-grade relationship to the street
- diagonal corner entrance
- two-storey rectangular form and vertical massing
- rows of windows on main and upper storeys