First National Bank, Pittsfield, ME (Charter 13777)
First National Bank, Pittsfield, ME (Chartered 1933 - Closed (Merger) 1970)
Town History
Pittsfield is a town in Somerset County, Maine. The population was 3,908 at the 2020 census. Pittsfield is home to the Maine Central Institute, a semi-private boarding school, and the annual Central Maine Egg Festival.
The area was part of the Kennebec Purchase. First called Plymouth Gore, it was settled in 1794 by Moses Martin and his family from Norridgewock. In 1815, the town was organized as the Plantation of Sebasticook, but was incorporated on June 18, 1819, as Warsaw after Warsaw, Poland. In 1824, the name was changed to Pittsfield after William Pitts of Boston, a large landowner.
Pittsfield was noted for fine orchards, and became an agricultural trade center. Water power from the Sebasticook River attracted industry, and a gristmill and sawmill were built at the falls. Blacksmith shops and a carriage shop were established. In 1855, the Penobscot and Kennebec Railroad arrived, and Pittsfield developed into a small mill town. In 1869, the first woolen mill was established. The Riverside Woolen Company was the first mill in the state to sell cloth direct from loom to wearer. Fire destroyed the downtown in 1881, but it was soon rebuilt. Woodworking plants and a canning factory were established. The Waverly Woolen Mill was built in 1891–1892, together with 52 dwellings the company rented to workers. Pittsfield was also home to the Sebasticook and the Pioneer woolen mills.
In 1914, the Waverly and the Pioneer mills were sold to the American Woolen Company, which would close in 1934 during the Great Depression. The Pioneer Mill, the largest, remained in operation until after World War II, but as the New England textile business moved to Southern states. The Waverly mill was converted into a shoe factory in the 1940s, with the Pioneer mill converted to manufacture doorbells in the 1950s.
Pittsfield had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized August 8, 1933
- Chartered September 19, 1933
- Succeeded Pittsfield National Bank, Pittsfield, ME (Charter 4188)
- Bank was Open past 1935
- For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
- Merged into Maine National Bank in Portland, ME August 14, 1970
On Sunday, April 2, 1933, an informal gathering of about 50 of the townspeople who were interested in the Pittsfield National Bank met at the Lancey House to discuss the banking problem as it existed in Pittsfield. A committee was chosen to confer with Harry R. Coolidge, the appointed conservator and to cooperate with him in every way possible for the good of the depositors. The committee was made up of the following: G.M. Lancey of Hartland, chairman; William M. Bigelow of Pittsfield, E.B. Reed of Harmony, Alfred P. Bigelow of Saint Albans, Dr. Carl Coffin of Pittsfield, Harry Goodrich of Palmyra, and Earl N. Vickery of Pittsfield. In June, a revised plan for the Pittsfield National Bonk was under consideration by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation at Washington and approval was expected within a few days. A new bank would be possible only through the cooperation of depositors. At the proper time all depositors would be asked to buy common stock in order to help organize a new bank for Pittsfield.
On July 29, 1933, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation announced the purchase of $995,000 of preferred stock in seven banks in widely separated sections of the country. In each instance the purchase was contingent upon sale by the managers of an amount of common stock to depositors and the public. Among the banks named was the First National Bank of Pittsfield, Maine, $50,000. This bank succeeded the Pittsfield National Bank.
On September 19, 1933 The First National Bank of Pittsfield received its charter and officials planned for a Monday opening. George Moore was the cashier. He was from Skowhegan. Employees would be George Moore of Norridgewock, Miss Ardis Lancey and Elden Otis of Detroit. All the old employees were retiring.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The First National Bank of Pittsfield, ME
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $72,960 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1933 and 1970. This consisted of a total of 9,336 notes (No large size and 9,336 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 5736 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 2772 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 828
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1933 - 1970):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Pittsfield, ME, on Wikipedia
- 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
- Sun-Journal, Lewiston, ME, Tue., Apr. 4, 1933.
- Morning Sentinel, Waterville, ME, Sat., June 3, 1933.
- Sun-Journal, Lewiston, ME, Sat., July 29, 1933.
- Morning Sentinel, Waterville, ME, Thu., Sep. 21, 1933.