The Bank for Savings in the City of New-York


The Bank for Savings in the City of New York was the first savings bank in New York City until it was merged with the Buffalo Savings Bank in 1982. It was one of the earliest-opened banks in the United States, becoming an official bank in 1819.

History

The Bank for Savings in the City of New-York was the fourth bank to be opened in the United States and the first savings bank in Manhattan. It was founded in 1816, although it was not incorporated by the NY State Legislature until March 16, 1819. First publicly advertised as "A BANK FOR THE POOR", it was modeled after similar institutions in Europe; its stated purpose was to "effect a secure place of deposit for the earnings of the laboring part of the community: and at the same time to give them the benefit of an accumulation of interest". " One of the bank's founders, Thomas Eddy, further explained the charitable impetus behind the entity's formation, "Among the many philanthropic institutions with which your country abounds, there is none that appears to me more likely to be useful than Savings Banks. They are certainly most admirably calculated to be beneficial to the poor, by promoting among them a spirit of independence, economy and industry."
The bank's first location was at Chambers Street. The site became equally famous for being the venue where the first Egyptian mummy was displayed in the United States in 1824. The bank then moved to Bleecker Street, at which time it became familiarly called the Bleecker Street Savings Bank.
During the Civil War, the bank was reputed to be a bellwether of the nation's prosperity with the bank holding over eleven million dollars but also boasting the largest number of depositors from the working class in New York State. Following a fire that badly damaged the building, the bank moved from Bleecker to 280 Fourth Avenue at Twenty-second Street on August 15, 1894. A large white marble Romanesque structure was designed by Cyrus L. W. Eidlitz. Later headquarters were located on Park Avenue South.

Notable Directors

Among its founders and first directors were Thomas Eddy, William Bayard Jr., DeWitt Clinton, Archibald Gracie, Cadwallader D. Colden, John Pintard, Matthew Clarkson, Peter Augustus Jay and Brockholst Livingston. Although many credit Eddy with founding the institution, Bayard, who was also a director of the Bank of America founded by Amadeo Giannini, served as the bank's first president. Other famous directors included Frederic James de Peyster, a prominent soldier and philanthropist as well as politician Hamilton Fish who stepped down from the board when he became US Secretary of State.

Demise

It later merged with the Buffalo Savings Bank in 1982 and its name was subsequently changed to Goldome.
It failed in 1991 along with a number of other banks. The bank is no longer in existence today.

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