Oakmont National Bank, Oakmont, PA (Charter 12858)
Oakmont NB (No Issue), Oakmont, PA (Chartered 1925 - Liquidated 1929)
Town History
Oakmont is located in Delaware County. Havertown is a residential suburban unincorporated community in Haverford Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, approximately 9 miles west of the center of Philadelphia. The name "Havertown" was coined by the U.S. Post Office and came into use on January 1, 1946. Before then, each constituent community was known by its local name: Bon Air, Brookline, Penfield, Beechwood, Llanerch, Manoa, Oakmont, Coopertown, Ardmore. Under William Penn's land divisions these communities were part of the Welsh Tract and comprised the area known as Harford, a Welsh contraction of Haverford.
Oakmont was described in 1925 as one of Delaware County's most promising suburbs with new stores and apartments. Merchants were wanted in the vicinity including baker, hair dresser, dry goods, shoe store and shoe repairing, battery shop, and electrician. An A&P was in place and the Oakmont National Bank had just secured a charter.
On Eagle Road, near Coopertown Road (now Darby Road) at Oakmont, Haverford Township stands Old Haverford Meeting, established a few years after Penn settled Pennsylvania. In 1700, William Penn preached to the Welsh men and women who founded Haverford Meeting. Welshmen driven from their homes by the fierce persecution of the times arrived in Pennsylvania in 1682 and purchased 45,000 acres that are now Haverford, Merion and Radnor Townships.
Oakmont had one National Bank chartered during the Bank Note Era, and it did not issue National Bank Notes. There is also an Oakmont in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, which did issue National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Chartered December 9, 1925
- Absorbed by the 69th Street Terminal Title & Trust Company, Upper Darby
- Liquidated September 3, 1929
- This bank did not issue National Bank Notes.
On December 9, 1925, The Oakmont National Bank of Oakmont, Haverford Township, was granted a charter by the comptroller of the currency. The new bank which was organized by interests identified with the Sixty-ninth Street Terminal Title and Trust Company of Upper Darby, had capital of $25,000. V. Gilpin Robinson was president and Frank H. Jackson, cashier.
V. Gilpin Robinson was a prominent member of the Delaware County and Philadelphia Bars; vice president of the Rittenhouse Trust (1908); a Pennsylvania State Congressman (1911-12); President of the Sixty-ninth Street Terminal Title and Trust Co. (1925); The Oakmont National Bank (1926-28), Oakmont; and the Media Title & Trust Company (1921).
In August 1925, V. Gilpin Robinson, president of the Sixty-ninth Street Terminal Title and Trust Co. was part of the fight to prevent enforcement of new width restrictions of the West Chester Pike. The new width was 120 feet instead of the 100-foot width authorized three years earlier. Affected properties included those of the Media Title and Trust Co., Upper Darby Post Office Building, Buten Building, Cunningham Building, Knatz Building and a number of other stores and office structures.
At the end of August 1927, announcement was made of the plans of the Sixty-ninth Street Terminal Title and Trust Company to erect a bank, office, and apartment building in Upper Darby. This project and its site represented an investment of $1,200,000. The institution had recently completed the assembling of the lot for the project and held title to an "L" shaped plot having a forty-foot frontage on Market Street with a depth of 148 feet to Ashby Road where it had a frontage of 160 feet. The plan was to erect the bank portion on the main front, the apartment and office structure to form a wing. The entire building was of steel and concrete fireproof construction. The new structure was dedicated on May 4, 1929. Officers in May 1929 were: Walter R. Johns, President; William A. Nagle, vice president; Donald P. Horsey, vice president and treasurer; F. Henry Berlin, vice president; Frank H. Brehm, Jr., secretary and trust officer; Harry C. Hoskins, title officer; William H. Murdoch, assistant treasurer; Cyrenius Signor, assistant secretary and assistant treasurer; Walter R. Carr, assistant title officer; and William W. McKim, solicitor. The directors were: Alexander R. Alessi, realtor; F. Henry Berlin, vice president, 69th Street Terminal Title & Trust Company; Clarence E. Fox, realtor; Norman T. Hayes, vice president, Philadelphia National Bank; Donald P. Horsey, vice president and treasurer, 69th Street Terminal Title & Trust Company; Frank H. Jackson, president, Frank H. Jackson & Co.; Walter R. Johns, president, 69th Street Terminal Title & Trust Company; William A. Kelly, hauling contractor; William M. Knatz, president, William M. Knatz, Inc.; William P. Landis, Esq., attorney-at-law and vice president and trust officers of Ardmore National Bank & Trust Co.; John C. Marsh, vice president, Stroud & Co., Inc., bankers; William W. McKim, Solicitor, Oakmont National Bank; William A. Nagle, vice president, 69th Street Terminal Title & Trust Company; E.M. Orton, Superintendent, C.J. Webb & Co.; Fred L. Ramsdell, Ramsdell construction Co.; V. Gilpin Robinson, Esq., attorney-at-law and president, Oakmont National Bank; Emanuel Sacks, vice president and treasurer, Sacks & Co.; H.E. Shortlidge, president, H.E. Shorlidge, Inc.; C. Judd Stewart, secretary and treasurer of Stewart Walters Electric Co.; C. Percy Willcox, Esq., attorney-at-law and real estate appraiser, Integrity Trust Co. The 69th Street Terminal Title and Trust Co. had an Aronimink Office at Burmont Road and Woodland Ave., Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania and an Oakmont Office in the Oakmont National Bank Building, Eagle Road and Coopertown Road (now Darby Road).
On September 3, 1929, The Oakmont National Bank was liquidated and absorbed by the 69th Street Terminal Title & Trust Company, Upper Darby.
On April 9, 1930, announcement was made of the merger of the Media Title & Trust Company of Media and the Sixty-ninth Street Terminal Title & Trust Company of Upper Darby under the name of the Media Sixty-ninth Street Title and Trust Company. The commodious offices of the 69th Street Company would be retained with branch offices at Oakmont and Aronimink. Capital of the new institution was $375,000, surplus of $1,000,000 and undivided profits of approximately $250,000. In 1928, the Media Company took over the Charter National Bank of Media.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Oakmont National Bank, Oakmont, PA
Bank Note Types Issued
No National Bank Notes were issued by this bank.
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1925 - 1929):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
- Frank H. Jackson, 1925-1925
- Donald P. Horsey, 1926-1927
- John M. Koch, 1928-1929
Wiki Links
- Pennsylvania Bank Note History
- General information on Delaware County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Pennsylvania (Wikipedia)
Sources
- 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 Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Tue., July 21, 1908.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Sat., Sep. 20, 1913.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Sun., Nov. 29, 1925.
- Delaware County Daily Times, Chester, PA, Wed., Dec. 16, 1925.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Sun., Sep. 4, 1927.
- Delaware County Daily Times, Chester, PA, Fri., May 3, 1929.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Wed., Aug. 21, 1929.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Thu., Apr. 10, 1930.