The only major skyscraper built in the country while it fought in World War II, this highrise was erected from steel beams that arrived on site before the attack on Pearl Harbor shifted output to tanks and warships. Conceived by the same architect who produced the lavish Roxy Theater in New York, this far more subdued tower got a frisky spire and clock in a 1958 remodeling.
Robert Thornton ran an unsuccessful bookstore and mortgage lending shop before he and two partners launched a bank in 1916 that became Mercantile National. Thornton spent three decades as its president and two more as chairman, then was elected to four two-year terms as Dallas mayor.
He had first come to the city as an eight-year-old boy to attend the state fair; years later Thornton led lobbyists who secured the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition for Dallas over bids from Houston and San Antonio. The fairgrounds were remade as a showcase of progress, and Thornton subsequently insisted his bank headquarters also emphasize ultramodern architecture and interior design.
A successor bank called MCorp failed in 1989, and the property stood vacant until it was renovated into luxury apartments, including a top floor penthouse that was once a sky lounge for executives.
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