A five-story brick building stands on a corner in this 6-1/2" x 4-1/2" black and white photograph. Two signs on the corner of the first floor read "Lincoln National Bank & Trust Co." There are large windows on the first floor, some with a concrete awning over them and others with cloth awnings, and smaller windows on the other stories. Other structures surround the building. There are people on the sidewalks and cars parked on the streets. "Barkley Bldg." is written on the photograph.
The Barkley Building stood at the northwest corner of 12th and O Streets in Lincoln, Nebraska. It had only 25 feet of frontage on O Street, while stretching 142 feet along 12th Street. Originally built as the three-story Ganter Building in 1909, it gained the top two floors (and a new name, for developer W. E. Barkley) in 1915. A. W. Woods was architect for the addition, which was carried out by Assenmacher & Co. The Barkley Building gained its greatest fame in 1930, when six armed bank robbers, including associates of Al Capone, escaped with $2.7 million in cash and securities from Lincoln National Bank and Trust Company. The Barkley Building was replaced by the Sartor Hamann Jewelry store in 1976. In the photo, the tall Capital Hotel can be seen over buildings in the background.
