In 1905, at the corner of Church Street and High Street, construction began for a new building to house the Peoples National Bank in Waynesburg.
The well-established Peoples was founded in 1897 and had outgrown its previous location. Their new building would remedy that, and this structure would be one of the tallest in Waynesburg. Known as Waynesburg’s Skyscraper, it would stand until 2014.
Many of us may remember this building as the old County Office Building, the place where the county offices were located until they completed the present county office building.
Memories abound of this Waynesburg landmark. The most common we hear at the Greene County Historical Society is of the elevator with its metal doors, a set of which are housed here at the Greene County Historical Society.
Besides the elevator doors, the Greene County Historical Society also houses another set of iron gates, initially designed to hinge in the center, with decorative curved hand forged iron work at top, and brass trim throughout. Unfortunately, we do not know how they used these doors in the Peoples Bank building.
The Greene County Historical Society gained these gates through a private sale funded by an anonymous donation, and they are now installed across from the back entrance to our facility surrounding a door that leads into an outdoor courtyard. While not used for their intended purpose, they hearken back to a time of craftsmanship and beautiful engineering that was not only ornate, but functional as well.
Please keep an eye out on our Facebook Page and our website at http://www.greenecountyhistory.org to stay up to dates on our Presentation Series and Events as we look forward to our open season beginning April 29, 2023!
