The Wilmington Dispatch of Sept. 18, 1913, carried a report from New Bern that described the “rapid progress” on the new People’s Bank on Middle Street—a prime business street—built from plans and specifications by “Burrett H. Stephens, a well known architect of Wilmington.” The front of the locally organized bank was to be entirely of granite, and the interior finished with polished wood and Italian marble. A prime local example of Beaux-Arts classicism, the façade features Ionic columns in antis framing an arched entrance beneath a full pediment. The building has been preserved and adapted for new uses.