101 Mansfield--PNC Bank

The original Belvidere Bank was chartered by an act of the NJ Legislature in 1830. The largest stockholder at the time was John I. Blair (for which Blairstown is named), father of DeWitt Clinton Blair (see Tour Stop #6). Several other Blair family members were also subscribers, as well as the Hon. Garret D. Wall. John I. Blair was the vice president, discharging the duties of President John Kinney Jr. when he became blind, and became the next president of the bank.

This building was built in 1929, just prior to the Great Depression. It was opened originally as the Warren County Trust Company. The bank was closed in 1931 during the bank holiday and reopened by the federal government the next year as The First National Bank of Belvidere.

The simple block form building is a curious amalgam of Prairie School, Neoclassical and Beaux Arts styles, all popular during the first quarter of the 20th century. The ceiling is over 30 feet high with a spectacular center medallion that, along with the rest of the ceiling, was painted by the late Bill Duckworth of Washington, New Jersey in a fresco style. All of the imagery in the tile floor are various good luck symbols found in indigenous American and Asian lore. The building remains virtually unchanged except for the addition of three drive-through banking stations along Front Street.