Bishop Bank, Honolulu

Charles Reed Bishop began the first bank in Hawaii. Born in New York, Bishop moved to Honolulu in 1846, where he married Bernice Pauahi, one of Hawaii's largest landowners. The Bishop & Company Bank was started in 1858, and the Bishop Bank building was created in 1877 expressly for the bank.

Prior to the Bishop Bank's construction, the site housed a coral building owned by Dr. Wood. It was later purchased by Dr. Hoffman, who sold it to Bishop. Bishop had the original two-story structure demolished, and replaced with the current one. Bishop remained there until 1925, and the Bishop Bank building was rented out for office space. Harriet Bouslog, a lawyer known for her work with civil liberties and workers' rights, purchased the building in 1980, and it now houses the offices of the Harriet Bouslog Labor Scholarship Fund.

The design of the Bishop Bank was created by Thomas J. Baker. It was designed to be a combination of the Italian Renaissance Revival that was popular in Hawaii, and Second Empire styles. The Bishop Bank was considered by many residents to be the finest commercial building in the entire city of Honolulu. Thomas J. Baker remained in demand after its construction, and lived in Honolulu for another three years, during which he designed and built Iolani Palace for King Kalakaua.