At 600 F Street, NW, stood the OBA (Oriental Building Association) Federal Savings & Loan Association that was founded in 1861 as a "German" bank; the building, now closed, was designed by Albert Goehner.
Goehner also designed the landmark-designated building at 423–425 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, which originally built in 1902 as the Kingman, the name later was changed to the President Monroe Apartment Building.
OBA remains the oldest savings and loan association in the nation and in 2003 moved a few blocks to 700 7th Street NW. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
As part of a larger fraternal organization, the association allowed individuals and small businesses in this German dominated neighborhood to pool resources and offer credit. The OBA exemplifies the historical importance of the District's immigrant self-help organizations and business relationships.
I began photographing the OBA Building in late summer 2004, focusing more on the Banana Republic billboard displays pasted to the west side of the building, facing the MCI Center. And, if my photographic memory and collection is correct, it was in November 2004 that the renovation process began. See my Time Changes project which was launched in February 2005 that depicts a photo taken on Veterans Day, 11 November 2004, of the OBA Building at the beginning stages of its redevelopment.
Goehner also designed the landmark-designated building at 423–425 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, which originally built in 1902 as the Kingman, the name later was changed to the President Monroe Apartment Building.
OBA remains the oldest savings and loan association in the nation and in 2003 moved a few blocks to 700 7th Street NW. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
As part of a larger fraternal organization, the association allowed individuals and small businesses in this German dominated neighborhood to pool resources and offer credit. The OBA exemplifies the historical importance of the District's immigrant self-help organizations and business relationships.
I began photographing the OBA Building in late summer 2004, focusing more on the Banana Republic billboard displays pasted to the west side of the building, facing the MCI Center. And, if my photographic memory and collection is correct, it was in November 2004 that the renovation process began. See my Time Changes project which was launched in February 2005 that depicts a photo taken on Veterans Day, 11 November 2004, of the OBA Building at the beginning stages of its redevelopment.
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