THOMPSON RUBY BUILDING
53 W. MAIN STREET
Thompson-Ruby Building Snapshot:
- Built in 1900 by multimillionaire J.V. Thompson and local businessman J. D. Ruby
- The First National Bank was first housed here until J.V. built his “skyscraper” and moved it across the street
- It then became a foreign exchange bank that worked with the coal mining immigrants from Eastern Europe. The cashiers helped the immigrants send money back home and bring families over once enough money was saved for their passages.
- Today, many businesses are still tenants of the building. In fact, a direct descendant of the Ruby family still owns the building and has his dental practice there.
Thompson-Ruby Building – The Full Story:
The three-story Thompson-Ruby building, with its golden dome, stands out on the Main St. skyline. It was built in 1900 as a joint venture between multimillionaire J.V. Thompson and another Uniontown businessman named J.D. Ruby, across the street from Thompson’s First National Bank.
This grand building was the site of the First National Bank. It was a wonder for the townspeople to see. They couldn’t have imagined in 1901 that a building could have been any finer….but then J.V. Thompson put his plan into action to build Uniontown’s first skyscraper. Once the “new” First National Bank was completed, the Thompson-Ruby Building became the home of the Kail Foreign Exchange Bank. This bank was unique in Uniontown because it catered to our immigrants, particularly our coal mining Eastern European immigrants. The cashiers spoke their language and were able to advise them how to send money back home to their families. They even helped bring their families to Uniontown once enough money was secured for their passages.
Once the bank closed, numerous shops and professional businesses moved to ???. To this day, Dr. Joseph Ruby, DDS, a direct descendant of the original owner, sees his patients in this building. This is quite the legacy for the Ruby family and the City of Uniontown.

Fayette County Historical Society
P.O. Box 193, Uniontown, PA 15401
724.439.4422