This surprisingly modest structure, almost residential in character, belies the importance of the institution for which it was built. Constructed of solid, uncoursed, quarry-faced bluestone (the name given the warm, brownish sandstone obtained nearby), it has a pedimented gable end facing the street. First-floor windows and the Main Street entrance are arched, but all other fenestration is
The bank, incorporated in 1889, was once one of the country's richest in ratio to the number of depositors. Largely because of Mann's acumen, the Bank of Bramwell financed the Burning Tree Country Club in Washington, D.C., and invested in real estate throughout the country. It failed in 1933, a casualty of the Depression. The First National Bank of Bluefield acted as its liquidation agent, and by 1958 all creditors had been fully paid.