The Bank of Italy building, home to The Independent newspaper and a cornerstone of the downtown Livermore landscape, will be honored this month in a centennial celebration. The historic Italian Renaissance Revival building on the corner of First Street and South Livermore Avenue was built in 1921 as the 13th branch of the Bank of Italy.

The Bank of Italy was founded in 1904 by Amadeo Pietro Giannini, the American-born son of Italian immigrants. His bank was meant for the “little fellow,” the laboring immigrants other banks would not serve. “The Bank of Italy was the first to loan money to survivors of the 1906 earthquake,” said Toni Sterling, a former employee. According to Sterling, Giannini distributed the cash himself to earthquake victims from his horse-drawn carriage.