Banks – Historic Buildings of Massachusetts

Concord Bank (1832)

by Dan/February 4, 2020/Banks, Concord, Greek Revival

The building at 46 Main Street in Concord was erected in 1832 for the Concord Bank (which later became the Concord National Bank) and the Middlesex Mutual Fire Insurance Company (incorporated in 1826), which occupied the first floor for many years. The Middlesex Institution for Savings was founded in 1835 and shared space with the Concord Bank on the second floor. Both institutions were robbed in a famous incident in 1865. By the 1880s, the insurance company had moved out of the first floor, part of which was then occupied by Frank Tuttle’s tailor shop. Starting in 1886, the post office was also located in the building for many years. When the bank vacated the second floor in 1894, Tuttle moved his tailoring business upstairs and continued there until his death in 1913, while the National and American Express companies had their offices on the first floor until 1914. Various office tenants and commercial businesses have occupied the building over the years.

Gloucester Safe Deposit and Trust Company (1880)

by Dan/January 30, 2020/Banks, Gloucester, Neoclassical

The building at 189-191 Main Street, at the corner of Duncan Street, in Gloucester was erected circa 1870-1880 and was originally the First National Bank. It was later home to the Gloucester Safe Deposit and Trust Company, incorporated in 1891, around which time the building was remodeled with a “Pigeon Cove” granite Classical Revival facade. In 2013, the former bank building was renovated with first floor space for an art gallery and a jewelry store, and office and apartment space above.

Westfield First National Bank (1930)

by Dan/December 14, 2017/Banks, Neoclassical, Westfield

Now a branch of Santander Bank, the building at 30 Elm Street in Westfield was built c. 1930 as the Westfield First National Bank.

Springfield Safe Deposit & Trust Company Building (1933)

by Dan/June 10, 2016June 10, 2016/Art Deco, Banks, Springfield

The Springfield Safe Deposit and Trust Company was established in 1886. After initially occupying quarters in the ground floor of the Hall Building on Main Street, in 1908 the bank moved to the ground floor of the new Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company building at the corner of State and Main streets. Continuing to prosper even in the midst of the Great Depression, the bank erected its own building at 127 State Street in 1933. Designed by the Boston architectural firm of Thomas M. James Company, the building is considered to be an outstanding example of the Art Deco style. This includes both the exterior and interior details, the latter having survived with only minor changes. The Springfield Safe Deposit & Trust Company later merged with other banks. In 1996, Fleet Bank donated the building to the Community Music School, which owns in today.

First National Bank, Northampton (1928)

by Dan/September 19, 2015/Art Deco, Banks, Northampton

The First National Bank building at 1 King Street in Northampton was built in 1928. A bank had existed on the site since 1865. The current impressive structure on the site was designed in the Art Deco/Art Moderne style by J. Williams Beal & Sons. Since 1993 the building has been home to Silverscape Designs, founded by jewelry-designer Denis Perlman, who loving restored the former bank.

Naumkeag Trust Company (1900)

by Dan/July 4, 2015/Banks, Churches, Colonial Revival, Commercial, Salem

The building at 217 Essex Street in Salem was built in 1900 to house the retail store of W.E. Hoyt Company. A decade later, the Hoyt Block was acquired by the Naumkeag Trust Company, which hired Boston architects Franklin H. Hutchins and Arthur W. Rice to remodel the interior to become a bank building. The history of the Naumkeag Trust Company is related in Vol. II of the Municipal History of Essex County in Massachusetts (1922):

The Naumkeag Bank was incorporated March 17, 1831, with $200,000 capital, subsequently increased to $500,000. It commenced business in the Benjamin Dodge store building, on Essex street, opposite the Essex House, then was moved to the Manning building, and in 1872 to the second floor of the Asiatic building, Washington street. David Pingree was its first president. In 1864 this institution was changed to the Naumkeag National Bank.

It then became the Naumkeag Trust Company, which was established October 7, 1909. The building is now home to The Gathering at Salem, an interdenominational Christian church.

Bank Building, Clinton (1881)

by Dan/January 28, 2015/Banks, Clinton, Victorian Eclectic

The building at 79 High Street in Clinton was built in 1881 to house two banks: the Clinton Savings Bank and the First National Bank of Clinton, which became the Clinton Trust Company in 1919. The Clinton Savings Bank moved to a new building in 1929. The building at 79 High Street housed various successor banks to the Clinton Trust Company. It is currently home to a branch of Santander Bank.