It shows an idealized European vision of North America, with scenes progressing from New York Bay, West Point and Boston Harbor to Natural Bridge in Virginia and Niagara Falls. Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy famously installed the same wallpaper style in the White House in the early 1960s, adding to its cultural significance.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
“Each of these designs was not painted,” said corporate strategy and distribution director Douglas Berlon, who is overseeing the project. “It was all done by woodblock carved over 1,600 pieces of wood carved and then 223 different paint colors to get them to work, so every every step from the light green to the gray to the dark green is a different stamp and a different paint to build this mosaic that covers various important historic events from the United States.”
Berlon said the mural likely was covered during the bank’s last major renovation in the mid-1970s. Zuber & Cie, the company that created the wallpaper, is still in business “and confirmed all of our information,” he said.
“When we uncovered it, we had over 650 holes that we had a restoration company come in to repair so we can bring it back to its natural beauty,” he said. “We’re very excited that it survived as well as it did, and we think it’s going to be really great for the community to see.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
He said First Financial plans to unveil the historic Hamilton headquarters’ renovations in late March.
As part of its revitalization effort, the company relocated the bank’s inward‑facing trust operations from a second‑floor space above its drive‑thru banking in a nearby building to the seventh floor.
Berlon said First Financial in May will complete renovations to that second‑floor area and convert it into a call center, bringing more than 50 employees to Hamilton to staff it.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
First Financial was founded as the First National Bank of Hamilton in 1863 with one of the first bank charters in the United States.
Berlon said First Financial President and CEO Archie Brown will maintain an office in the renovated Hamilton space.
“We have a very special place in our heart for Hamilton ... and so if we don’t invest, if we’re not leading the way, other people aren’t going to join in and do it either,” he said. “We think our civic responsibility is to make sure that we have a beacon of light here that brings not only our people, but brings other people to downtown Hamilton.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
About the Author
