Girard Bank
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| Industry | Retail bank |
|---|---|
| Fate | Acquired by Mellon Bank in 1983 |
| Predecessor | The Girard National Bank Stephen Girard’s Bank |
| Successor | Mellon Bank (East), Citizens Bank |
| Founded | 1811 |
| Founder | Stephen Girard |
| Defunct | 1983 |
| Headquarters | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Products | Financial services |
Girard Bank was a Philadelphia based bank founded by Stephen Girard in 1811. The bank was acquired by Mellon Bank in 1983 and then, two decades later, by Citizens Bank.
In its early years, the bank was variously known as “Girard’s Bank,” or as “Girard Bank.” or also as “Stephen Girard’s Bank” or even the “Bank of Stephen Girard.” By the end of the 19th century the bank was known as The Girard National Bank. Girard's bank became the Girard Trust Company, and later Girard Bank.
After the charter for the First Bank of the United States expired in 1811, Stephen Girard purchased most of its stock as well as the building and its furnishings on South Third Street in Philadelphia and opened his own bank. Girard was the sole proprietor of his bank, and thus avoided the Pennsylvania state law which prohibited an unincorporated association of persons from establishing a bank, and required a charter from the legislature for a banking corporation.
Girard hired George Simpson, the cashier of the First Bank, as cashier of the new bank, and with seven other employees, opened for business on May 18, 1812. He allowed the Trustees of the First Bank of the United States to use some offices and space in the vaults to continue the process of winding down the affairs of the closed bank at a very nominal rent.
Girard's Bank was a principal source of government credit during the War of 1812. Towards the end of the war, when the financial credit of the U.S. government was at its lowest, Girard placed nearly all of his resources at the disposal of the government and underwrote up to 95 percent of the war loan issue, which enabled the United States to carry on the war.
After the war, Girard became a large stockholder in and one of the directors of the Second Bank of the United States. In September 1833, Secretary of the Treasury Roger B. Taney transferred the government's Pennsylvania deposits in the Second Bank of the United States to the Bank of Girard.
In February 1903, Girard acquired the business of the Mechanics National Bank. Five years later it constructed a new headquarters on Broad Street, known as the Girard Trust Building, designed by Frank Furness. In 1930, the bank began construction of a new tower adjoining the domed 1908 building, designed by McKim, Mead & White and completed in 1931. The tower was located on the site formerly occupied by the West End Trust Building (1898-1928). The 1908 domed building today serves as The Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia hotel.
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