I pass by this building almost every time I go into Deep Ellum, but I have never really thought about it’s history or why it was there. So, last night when I was at the House of Heroes show I decided to take a picture of it, and do a little research about the Old Union Bankers Building.
Then I found this on the Deep Ellum Foundation website…
Union Bankers Trust Building, located at 2551 Elm Street, is one of the better known Landmarks in Deep Ellum. Constructed in 1916 as the Grand Temple of the Knights of Pythias, the building was designed by African-American architect William Sydney Pittman, the state’s first black architect and the son-in-law of Booker T. Washington. In addition to serving as the state headquarters for the Knights,the temple housed some of the city’s earliest offices for black doctors, dentists and lawyers and served as the social and cultural center for the African- American community until the late 1930s. The building was Pittman’s largest built work. Other Dallas Landmarks within Deep Ellum include The Palace Shop at 2814 Main Street (ca. 1913) and Parks Brothers Warehouse at 2639 Elm Street (ca. 1923).
I decided to put the building in black and white because its been vacant for years for as long as I can remember. Would anyone take that building and restore it? Or will it eventually be left there to rot and fade away.
The way it stands is pretty interesting, but I can’t imagine what it would be like inside. If it’s possible to even get inside. Anyways I thought the picture in black and white represented the building pretty good.
Vacant.
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