One of the most iconic buildings in downtown Cleveland, the Federal Reserve’s home was designed by Walker & Weeks and pays tribute to Italian Renaissance palazzos. It’s seen 100 years of Cleveland history — turning the century mark on August 23 — and is one of the coolest tours you can go on in the city. This, a look back at the last 100 years from what stood on the location before through construction and the final, amazing building with features whose usefulness are no longer needed (gun turrets, for example), is just a taste.

All photos via the Cleveland Memory Project.

Prior building on site, 1921 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Prior building on site, 1921 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Excavation of site, 1921 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Building materials, 1921 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Building materials, 1921 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Framing of first level, 1921 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Excavation of plumbing connections, 1921 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Framing of first level, 1921 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Initial phase of construction, 1921 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Sub-floor construction on first level, 1921 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Building materials, 1922 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Bank vault enclosure construction, 1922 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Overview of building site, 1922 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Second level construction, 1922 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Steel frame structure, 1922 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Interior work, 1922 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Installation of marble facade, 1922 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Transport of bank vault, 1922 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Installation of iron metalwork windows, 1922 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Superior Avenue street activity near construction site, 1922 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Bank vault enclosure; third-level construction, 1922 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Installation of marble facade, 1922 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Completion of penthouse level; iron metal work window installation, 1922 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Completed building, 1923 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Transport of bank vault, 1923 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland vaults, 1923 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Installation of “Security” statue, 1923 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Energy in Repose Statue, 1924 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Interior view of entrance doors, 1929 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Entrance of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, 1933 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Federal Reserve Bank entrance, 1933 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, 1939 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Money in sacks piled high at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, 1940 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Federal Reserve Training School, 1941 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Bonds being received at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, 1942 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Federal Reserve Bank, sandblasting the exterior of the building, 1949 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
View from Superior Avenue, 1954 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Federal Reserve Bank vault, 1959 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Close-up of the seal of the state of Ohio inside the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, 1965 Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland -Vaults Credit: Cleveland Memory Project

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