Designed by locally famous architect George Steele, it occupies a prominent position, facing the courthouse square and sitting on a bluff directly above the Big Spring.

Beginning in 1818, they occupied a small brick building on the square, which had been built as a mercantile store two years prior.

Governor Israel Pickens ordered the bank to be shut down in 1822, but legal challenges staved off dissolution until 1825.

Pickens won re-election as governor in 1823, running on a platform that included the establishment of a state bank.

[3]: 21–23  At the end of the war, the National Bank of Huntsville was founded, using assets hidden from Union troops inside the building.

[2] The National Bank represented a shift in architectural design, both for architect George Steele, and for North Alabama as a whole.

Prior to submitting a bid for the bank, most of Steele's work was in the Federal style, which was popular in the first quarter of the 19th century.

Steele also won the bid for the second Madison County Courthouse, another temple-form Greek Revival building located across from the bank and completed in 1840.

The 15 foot (4.5 m) tall double entry doors are made of red cedar, and have five square relief panels each.

Windows on the second floor façade and sides are sashes, with five narrow, vertical panes in the top and two in the bottom.

The small cupola and weather vane atop the copper gable roof are from the second Madison County Courthouse, which was demolished in 1914.

The northwest side was originally an open courtyard overlooking the Big Spring, but further additions now cover the entire area.