At 205 Church Street, on the northeast corner of the New Haven Green where Elm and Church meet, rises the former Union and New Haven Trust Building, raised in 1927, then the tallest building in New Haven. What you see was raised in 1927 for the Union and New Haven Trust Co., a Georgian-Colonial Revival skyscraper designed by the architects Cross and Cross and, when it opened, the tallest building in New Haven. Its golden cupola was intentionally made to mirror the cupola of the Green’s United Church, tying this tall, 1920s bank building to the older churches around the square.
The site itself has deep roots — in the 1640s it was the home of Richard Perry, who served as secretary to the General Court of the Colony of New Haven. Over the decades the building changed hands several times; the Union Trust moved its headquarters to Stamford in 1981 but kept a ground-floor branch, and the bank was purchased in 1995 by First Union Corporation. In 2014 the tower was converted into residences and renamed The Union, giving new life to this landmark.
Across the Green, the United Church wears the cupola this golden one was made to mirror.