Mercantile Trust and Deposit Company, 1880s

This illustration is of the Mercantile Trust and Deposit Company. This building was constructed in 1885 by Wyatt and Sperry. This building survived the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904. This was Baltimore's first one stop banking to get loans, access savings accounts, or open checking accounts. This idea was made by Enoch Pratt. This bank also raised capital to rebuild cities in the South during Reconstruction and was the co-executor for Henry Walter's estate and trustee that help establish the Walters Art Collection. Mercantile Trust occupied the building for almost 100 years and left in 1983. The building is the new location of the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company.