History with ‘Hud’: Recalling the construction of Wilmington’s first skyscraper in 1912

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The tallest building in Wilmington is the former PPD building, which stands at 193 feet along North Front Street. The hard-to-miss structure overtook the top spot from the historic Murchison Building in 2007, which had held the honor of tallest building for nearly a century with its 138 foot height. But there’s one Port City skyscraper which came before all the rest.

Two years before the Murchison Building arrived in 1914, the Atlantic Trust Bank Building popped up at the corner of Market Street and Front Street with a height of 117 feet.

The nine-story structure was finished in 1912 and designed by Joseph F. Leitner. The Georgia-born architect designed countless buildings across the Carolinas, even serving as the official architect of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company.

In the decades to follow, the building has housed banks, offices and even resident spaces. It used to have a large medallion on the roof, but the metallic object was struck by lighting in the late 1990s and never replaced.

Even without the medallion, the large building still stands in downtown, offering a view of the Battleship North Carolina, Cape Fear Memorial Bridge and Wilmington’s many downtown church steeples.

Passed by countless Wilmington residents every day, the Trust Building serves as a reminder of a time when just one building soared above downtown.

Meteorologist Matthew Huddleston (‘Hud’) has always had two major loves – weather and history. While you can watch him talk about weather each morning on WWAY, he looks forward to bringing you a little piece of history each Thursday on WWAY’s website.

To read other History with ‘Hud’ segments, click HERE.