Collegeville National Bank, Collegeville, PA (Charter 8404)
Collegeville National Bank, Collegeville, PA (Chartered 1906 - Open past 1935)
Town History
Collegeville is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a suburb outside of Philadelphia on the Perkiomen Creek. Collegeville was incorporated in 1896. It is the location of Ursinus College which opened in 1869. The population was 5,089 at the 2010 census.
The area which is present day Collegeville was part of the original William Penn purchase of "All the land lying on the Pahkehoma" in 1684. In 1799, Perkiomen Bridge was constructed using funds raised from a special lottery approved by the Pennsylvania Legislature. When the first post office in this area was established in 1847, it was called Perkiomen Bridge. In 1832, the first school for primary and secondary students was established and it was later renamed Freeland Public School in 1844. In 1848, Henry A. Hunsicker built the "Freeland Seminary of Perkiomen Bridge." The village around the school became known as Freeland. In 1851, Abraham Hunsicker established the Pennsylvania Female College near present-day Glenwood Avenue. Ten years later, in 1861, the post office was moved and renamed Freeland.
When the trains first arrived in the area in 1868, there was a debate about naming of the station (Perkiomen Bridge vs Freeland). The local citizens had acquired notoriety when they had burned down the toll booth on the Perkiomen Bridge and thrown the gate into the river. The rail company avoided any troubles by naming it "Collegeville" (the station was actually closer to the Pennsylvania Female College than either Freeland School or Perkiomen Bridge). Ursinus College was founded a year later in 1869. Thus the name "Collegeville" precedes the establishment of Ursinus College and it is actually named after the other 4 year liberal arts college (Pennsylvania Female College) which closed in 1880.
Collegeville had one National Bank chartered during the Bank Note Era and it issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized August 20, 1906
- Chartered October 17, 1906
- Bank was Open past 1935
In January 1907, directors of the Collegeville National Bank met and organized for the first year of business. A.D. Fetterolf was elected president; Montgomery B. Linderman, vice president, and H.T. Hunsicker, secretary. W.D. Renninger was the cashier and A.T. Alleback, clerk. The other directors were B.F. Steiner, F.J. Clamer, W.P. Fenton, Dr. E.A. Krusen, E.S. Moser, Horace Place, A.C. Landes, John U. Francis, Jr., Charles Q. Hilleglass, John D. Frantz, I.T. Haldeman, and I.S. Bucher.
By June 15, 1912, the bank had deposits of $240,000, Capital of $50,000, Surplus and undivided profits of $21,500. It was the only U.S. Postal depository in the Perkiomen Valley.
In January 1956, the officers were William C. McAllister, president; Russell H. Price, vice president; Otto A. Schoenley, cashier; Harold B. Weber, assistant cashier; and Nelson T. Fegley, solicitor. The board members were McAllister, Price, Fegley, Leon Walt, Daniel S. Light, Daniel H. Bowers, Clarence W. Scheuren, and John U. Francis.
On October 6, 1960, William C. McAllister, president of the Collegeville National Bank and James M. Large, Chairman of the board of Provident Tradesmens announced jointly plans to merge the banks. The Philadelphia bank had assets of $519,421,337 and 13 offices in Philadelphia and seven suburban offices located in Ambler, Quakertown, Sellersville, Media, Swarthmore, Springfield and Nether Providence. A new office in Lima was scheduled to open in February 1961. The Collegeville bank had assets of $6,595,220. It moved into modern brick and glass quarters in 1957. McAllister noted that the merger would augment the commercial banking, savings and safe deposit services now offered by the national bank with the personal and corporate trust department of the Philadelphia institution.
In November 1960, stockholders of Provident Tradesmens Bank & Trust Co. of Philadelphia and Collegeville National Bank approved a plan to merge the two institutions. The merger terms provided for the issuance of two shares of Provident Tradesmens for each share of Collegeville National.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Collegeville National Bank, Collegeville, PA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $994,360 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1906 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 79,968 notes (65,644 large size and 14,324 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 1200 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 5100 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 5101 - 15211 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 1588 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 422 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 1739 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 525
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1906 - 1936):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Bank Note Signers
- There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.
Wiki Links
- Pennsylvania Bank Note History
- General information on Collegeville (Wikipedia)
- General information on Montgomery County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Pennsylvania (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Collegeville, PA, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collegeville,_Pennsylvania
- Don C. Kelly, National Bank Notes, A Guide with Prices. 6th Edition (Oxford, OH: The Paper Money Institute, 2008).
- Dean Oakes and John Hickman, Standard Catalog of National Bank Notes. 2nd Edition (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1990).
- Banks & Bankers Historical Database (1782-1935), https://spmc.org/bank-note-history-project
- Everett Press, Everett, PA, Fri., Jan. 25, 1907.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Sun, June 23, 1912.
- The Mercury, Pottstown, PA, Wed., Jan. 11, 1956.
- The Mercury, Pottstown, PA, Thu., Oct. 6, 1960.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Fri., Nov. 18, 1960.