Lions Heads

 

In 1888, Montgomery's largest business was the Moses Brothers Banking & Realty Company. They built the city's first "skyscraper," a six-story building on Court Square that was demolished in 1907 to make way for the new twelve-story home of the First National Bank of Montgomery.

The historic image shows how First National looked from 1907 until 1978. If you could zoom in, you would be able to see the terra cotta lion faces placed at intervals around the cornice, as if they were looking out over the city.

When First National became part of First Alabama in 1971, their building was modernized and the lions were removed.The bank officers erected a granite column on Court Square next to the bank and adorned it with these salvaged lion heads.