Hillsdale National Bank, Hillsdale, NJ (Charter 12902)
Hillsdale National Bank, Hillsdale, NJ (Chartered 1926 - Open past 1935)
Town History
Hillsdale is a borough in the northern portion of Bergen County, New Jersey, within the New York City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 10,143. In 1920 the population was 1,720, growing to 2,959 by 1930.
The populated area today known as Hillsdale took form in the mid-to-late 19th century as land speculators, led by David P. Patterson, developed subdivisions to profit from the coming of the Hackensack and New York Railroad (later New Jersey and New York Railroad). The area was incorporated as Hillsdale Township on March 25, 1898, from portions of Washington Township, which had, in turn, been set off from Harrington Township in 1840. Portions of the township were taken on April 30, 1906, to create the township of River Vale. Hillsdale was reincorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 2, 1923, subject to approval which came in a referendum held on April 24, 1923. The borough's name derives from its location in a "dale among the hills".
Hillsdale had one National Bank chartered during the Bank Note Era, and it issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized February 23, 1926
- Chartered March 20, 1926
- Opened April 1, 1926
- Bank was Open past 1935
- Name changed to Pascack Valley Bank and Trust Company January 1962
- Merged with Citizens First National Bank of Ridgewood November 30, 1973
In January 1926, the Hillsdale National Bank, Bergen County, New Jersey, organized and on March 20th, the comptroller of the currency issued a charter. The bank had capital stock of $50,000. J.T. Buckley was president and E.P. Davis, cashier.[1][2] The first board of directors consisted of John T. Buckley, Edward P. Davis, William W. Livengood, Charles A. Lorent, Anton Maksche, Bernard F. Rafferty, John A. Schlotterbeck, Albert H. Storms, Henry J. Werner, and George M. Yates. W. Merle Hoffman was elected cashier and he was assisted by Edward J. Hauck and Mrs. Claudine Davis. At the close of the first day, the bank had on deposit $52,064.83, representing 110 accounts.[3] The Hillsdale National Bank opened its doors for business on April 1st.[4]
In January 1929, the directors were Anton Maksche, Bernard F. Rafferty, John A. Schlotterbeck, George M. Yates, John T. Buckley, Edward P. Davis, C.V. Gunther, William W. Livengood. The officers were John T. Buckley, president; C.V. Gunther and Edward P. Davis, vice presidents; W.M. Hoffman, Cashier. At the close of 1928, the bank had capital stock $50,000, Surplus and undivided profits $11,063.60, Circulation $50,000, and deposits $429,719.89. The total assets were $602,304.37.[5]
On Tuesday, January 14, 1930, three new members were elected to the board of directors. The new directors were Harvey E. Hering, automobile dealer and police commissioner of Hillsdale; Thomas Clinton Demarest, affectionately called "the Grand Old Man of Hillsdale," and Jenner R. Fast, secretary of the New York Transit Company and other subsidiary companies of the Standard Oil Company. Both the current mayor of Hillsdale W.W. Livengood, and the former mayor, George M. Yates were also members of the board. Mr. Demarest was one of the fathers of Hillsdale, having been chairman of the township committee of Washington and Hillsdale Townships and one of three men responsible for the union of Washington and Hillsdale Townships. He had filled many public offices and was at one time president of the local Building and Loan Company.[6]
On Saturday night, February 21, 1931, many people visited the opening of the enlarged quarters of the Hillsdale National Bank. An addition of three large rooms and the installation of a modern safe deposit system were the new features. A large, sound-proof room was designed for Cashier W. Merle Hoffman in the front of the new addition and just outside this room was a small waiting room for depositors. Directly in back of this office was the directors' room. This room was a great improvement over the cramped quarters that were used in the old section. In the rear of the directors' room was an enlarged work area for the employees of the bank with safe deposit facilities added to the right of this room. Several hundred visitors passed through the quarters and were escorted by President John Buckley and members of the board of directors.[7]
In January 1932, the following were elected to the board of directors for the ensuing year: Jenner R. Fast, William W. Livengood, J. Elmer NeCollins, W. Merle Hoffman, Harvey E. Hering, John T. Buckley, Charles J. Beuerlein, Frank R. Liveright, Bernard F. Rafferty, and Bernard J. Conlin.[8]
After 33 years of service to the community, the new building at 84 Park Avenue was opened for business on October 13, 1959. The building was designed by the Tilghman Moyer Company of Allentown, Pennsylvania, in authentic Dutch Colonial Style. There were nine tellers' windows compared to four in the former building. The Commercial Loan Department was to the left of the main entrance and the Mortgage Loan Department was directly to the right. A completely segregated Installment Loan Department occupied the entire west wind of the building with a convenient entrance accessible from the parking lot at the rear of the building. The bank's vault was about three times larger with room for about 2,000 safe deposit boxes. The bookkeeping staff was located in the large quarters on the second floor along with the board room, the employees' lounge and rest rooms. The Hillsdale National was the only bank in the area to provide two drive-in windows.[9]
In January 1962, the former Hillsdale National Bank changed its name to the Pascack Valley Bank and Trust Company. As the largest unit banking institution in Pascack Valley with an ever expanding service area, the name change was appropriate.[10]
In March 1973, the boards of the Pascack Valley Bank & Trust Company with $37 million in deposits and the big Citizens First National Bank of Ridgewood with $169 million in deposits agreed to merge, subject to shareholders' and authorities' approvals. The merger would bring the power of Citizens First National into new marketing area, crossing the economic divide of the Garden State Parkway into the traditional domain of County Trust Company of Tenafly. The merger would also keep Citizens First from being overtaken in deposits, assets and Bergen County branches by a pending merger of County Trust and Hackensack's First National State Bank of North Jersey. The Pascack Valley shareholders were offered 1.8 shares of Citizens First for each share of Pascack Valley Bank's 125,000 shares recently bid at $33.50. The Hillsdale bank was also offered six posts on the board of directors including its president, Richard G. Kelley, and board member Mrs. Hazel T. Hoffman who would become the first woman director of Citizens First National. Pascack Valley was also the first Bergen bank to have a woman vice president, Mrs. Katherine Entress of Rochelle Park who held that position form January 1965 until her retirement in 1967. Mrs. Hoffman was the widow of William M. Hoffman who died shortly after his retirement as the bank's president in 1970. He was succeeded by Kelley, who came to the bank from Washington where he had served as president of Public National Bank and as a consultant in the Department of Commerce. However, the appointment caused a rift with the bank's executive vice president, Jack E. Jensen of Montvale who resigned to organize another Hillsdale bank. The future bank had been approved conditionally by Washington under the name American National Bank. Ironically, the first name proposed, Valley National Bank was rejected for its resemblance to that of Pascack Valley National Bank slated to disappear. Mr. Richard Beekman was president of Citizens First National, the fifth largest bank in the county and one of four dating to the 19th Century.[11]
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Hillsdale National Bank, Hillsdale, NJ
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $511,660 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1926 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 102,332 notes (42,188 large size and 60,144 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1902 Plain Back 4x5 1 - 10547 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 7264 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 16560
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1926 - 1935):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Known Bank Note Signers
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Hillsdale, NJ, 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
- ↑ The Central New Jersey Home News, New Brunswick, NJ, Tue., Jan. 26, 1926.
- ↑ Passaic Daily News, Passaic, NJ, Mon., Mar. 22, 1926.
- ↑ The Record, Hackensack, NJ, Fri., June 9, 1950.
- ↑ The Record, Hackensack, NJ, Wed., Apr. 28, 1926.
- ↑ The Record, Hackensack, NJ, Tue., Jan. 8, 1929.
- ↑ The Record, Hackensack, NJ, Thu., Jan. 16, 1930.
- ↑ The Record, Hackensack, NJ, Mon., Feb. 23, 1931.
- ↑ The Record, Hackensack, NJ, Tue., Jan. 19, 1932.
- ↑ The Record, Hackensack, NJ, Fri., Jan. 15, 1960.
- ↑ The Record, Hackensack, NJ, Thu., Jan. 26, 1962.
- ↑ The Record, Hackensack, NJ, Thu., Mar. 15, 1973.