Home Bank and Trust Company (1922)

The former building of the Home Bank and Trust Company, at 16 Colony Street in Meriden, was built in 1922. Originally chartered as the Home Bank of West Meriden in 1854, the bank was first located in the Collins Block, which was later destroyed by fire (the Hall & Lewis Building occupies the site now). In 1863, the bank moved to its own building, at the corner of Colony and Church Streets. Abiram Chamberlin, president of the bank, who served as Governor of Connecticut from 1903 to 1905, lived on the second floor of the brick building. The 1863 building was moved around the corner to make way for the 1922 building, designed by the firm of McKim, Mead and White. The bank became Shawmut Home Bank in 1987 and the following year was acquired by Connecticut National Bank. Today, the former bank building is home to a nightclub. (more…)

Citizens & Manufacturers Bank (1922)

Henry Bacon, architect of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., designed the bank building at 18 Leavenworth Street in Waterbury. It was constructed in 1922 as the Citizens & Manufacturers Bank, which was formed from the merging of two banks: the Citizens’ Bank, which was established in 1853 and became a national bank in 1865, and the Manufacturers’ National Bank, established in 1880. The bank later merged again in 1959 to form the Colonial Bank and Trust Company. The structure is now part of the bank building at 81 West Main Street, which today is a branch of Sovereign Bank.

Middletown Savings Bank (1928)

The building at 315 Main Street in Middletown was built in 1928 by the Middletown Savings Bank. Established in 1825, the bank was first located in Samuel Southmayd’s pharmacy on the corner of Main and William Streets. From 1838 to 1837, the bank was located in its own building, the Old Banking House Block at 319-323 Main Street, next door to the future site of their 1929 building. The bank then moved into a new building further south on Main Street and finally into their new Neoclassical structure at 315 Main Street. The Middletown Savings Bank became Liberty Bank in 1975.

Mystic River National Bank (1931)

The Mystic River Bank was chartered in 1851 and became a national bank in 1864. The bank’s first building, a Greek Revival structure, was constructed on West Main Street in Mystic in 1851. It was replaced (on the same site) by a new granite structure, with two side wings, in 1931. The Groton Savings Bank, chartered in 1854, shared space with the Mystic River Bank until constructing its own building across the street in 1953. The Mystic River National Bank merged into the Hartford National Bank in 1950. The 1931 bank building is now a Bank of America branch.

Morris Plan Bank, Bridgeport (1924)

Morris Plan banks, private banking organizations which gave small loans to industrial workers, emerged in the second decade of the twentieth century and thrived through the end of the Great Depression. The Morris Plan Bank in Bridgeport was designed by Ernest G. Southey and was built at 102 Bank Street in 1924. Today, the building is part of the City Trust Building Complex, a commercial and apartment complex which also includes the Bridgeport City Trust Company Building (1927-1929) and associated Trust Department Building (the latter also designed in the Colonial Revival style by Southey), and the Liberty Building (1918).