These two buildings are the only remaining examples of the stone-clad Italianate commercial blocks built in the city before the Civil War. The State Bank of Wisconsin Block (west half) and the adjacent Bank of Milwaukee Block (east half) were separate four-and-a-half-story buildings joined by a masonry party wall. Remodeling in 1903 gave them a common entrance through the Bank of Milwaukee building. Additional reconstruction done in the 1950s and 1970s stripped the State Bank of Wisconsin of the finely carved window caps that were similar to the spectacular ones on the Bank of Milwaukee Block. This latter building is richly ornamented with carved stonework. Italian Renaissance style hoods, differently shaped at each floor, cap the ornamental stone columns that grace the main entrance and each window bay. Notice the bearded gargoyles accenting the first-story window hoods.