History
The mutual savings bank was founded as the Union Savings Bank of Danbury by a group of Danbury citizens including James S. Taylor, the bank’s first president. The Legislature of the State of Connecticut authorized the incorporation of the bank on June 20, 1866. The bank was first located in a store owned by trustee Samuel Stebbins on Main Street in Danbury. In June 2016, the bank celebrated its 150th year of being in business. [3]
Main Office
In 1887, the architectural firm Berg & Clark of New York City was selected to design the bank’s current office at 226 Main Street in Danbury, also known as the "United Banks Building". Until 1925, Union Savings Bank co-occupied the first floor of the three-story Romanesque Victorian building with the National Pahquioque Bank. That year, an expansion of the building saw the main entry relocated to the center of the building where it resides today. The second and third floors at the time housed the high school, a 500-seat ballroom and the YMCA, among other offices. [3]
Years after Union Savings Bank became the sole occupant of the United Banks Building, repairs were made to the bank’s vault area following a bomb attack and robbery in 1970. At the same time, modern amenities including acoustic tiles, fluorescent lights and a drive-up window were added, and a one-story addition was built at the back of the building. [3]
In 1983, Union Savings Bank became a part of the area known as the Main Street Historic District. [4] Two decades later, further renovations included raising ceilings to the maximum height, replacing original mechanical systems and replacing the teller counters, maintaining the 1925 aesthetic. During this renovation, pieces of frieze and molding from the original lobby were discovered and protected with Christo wrap. [3]
Merger with The First National Bank of Litchfield
In 2010, Union Savings Bank expanded its branch offices into Litchfield County through a merger with The First National Bank of Litchfield, the oldest nationally chartered bank in the state of Connecticut. The First National Bank of Litchfield had been in operation in Litchfield County for 196 years. [5]
Union Savings Bank Foundation
The Union Savings Bank Foundation was established in 1998 to provide contributions to charitable organizations and non-profits in Connecticut. The Bank makes annual contributions to sustain the foundation’s endowment.
Each year during an open application period, 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations are invited to submit requests to receive grants from the foundation. In 2018, these grants contributed $202,525 to 18 different local non-profit organizations in Connecticut.
Organizations that receive support from the foundation serve a range of needs including child and family services, medical and dental care for low-income individuals and educational resources for underserved communities. Since 2016, the foundation has focused its efforts primarily on education, forming the USB Teachers’ Closet to help provide school supplies to teachers in local communities. [7]
Western Connecticut State University is a public university in Danbury, Connecticut. It was founded in 1903 as a teacher’s college and is part of the Connecticut State University System.
Manufacturers Hanover Corporation was the bank holding company formed as parent of Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company, a large New York bank formed by a merger in 1961. After 1969, Manufacturers Hanover Trust became a subsidiary of Manufacturers Hanover Corporation. Charles J. Stewart was the company's first president and chairman.
The Knickerbocker Trust was a bank based in New York City that was, at one time, among the largest banks in the United States. It was a central player in the Panic of 1907.
Cooperative banking is retail and commercial banking organized on a cooperative basis. Cooperative banking institutions take deposits and lend money in most parts of the world.
WAPJ is a non-commercial FM radio station in the United States, operated by the Torrington Community Radio Foundation, Inc. The station first went on the air in 1997 and currently operates on 89.9 MHz with a translator in downtown Torrington, Connecticut on 105.1 MHz.
The News-Times is a daily newspaper based in Danbury, Connecticut, United States. It is owned and operated by the Hearst Corporation.
The Main Street Historic District in Danbury, Connecticut, United States, is the oldest section of that city, at its geographical center. It has long been the city's commercial core and downtown. Its 132 buildings, 97 of which are considered contributing properties, include government buildings, churches, commercial establishments and residences, all in a variety of architectural styles from the late 18th century to the early 20th. It is the only major industrial downtown of its size in Connecticut not to have developed around either port facilities or a water power site.
Wachovia was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo and Company in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States, based on total assets. Wachovia provided a broad range of banking, asset management, wealth management, and corporate and investment banking products and services. At its height, it was one of the largest providers of financial services in the United States, operating financial centers in 21 states and Washington, D.C., with locations from Connecticut to Florida and west to California. Wachovia provided global services through more than 40 offices around the world.
Georg Fahrenschon is a German politician, representative of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria. From 2008 to 2011 he served as finance minister in the Bavarian State Ministry of Finance. He was a member of the Bundestag of Germany until 2007.
UBS Group AG is a Swiss multinational investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres as the largest Swiss banking institution and the largest private bank in the world. UBS client services are known for their strict bank–client confidentiality and culture of banking secrecy. Because of the bank's large positions in the Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific markets, the Financial Stability Board considers it a global systemically important bank.
The Union Arcade is an apartment building located in downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States. The building was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 by its original name Union Savings Bank and Trust. Originally, the building was built to house a bank and other professional offices. Although it was not the city's largest bank, and it was not in existence all that long, the building is still associated with Davenport's financial prosperity between 1900 and 1930. From 2014 to 2015 the building was renovated into apartments and it is now known as Union Arcade Apartments. In 2020 it was included as a contributing property in the Davenport Downtown Commercial Historic District.
Victor M. Richel, is an American banking executive and philanthropist born on May 7, 1938, in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He is the current chairman of the board of trustees at both Trinitas Health and Trinitas Regional Medical Center, as well as chairman of the board of trustees at Union County College, New Jersey. In 2000, he founded the Richel Family Foundation with his wife Andrea.
United Financial Bancorp, Inc. United Bank, headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, is a Connecticut state-chartered bank with $7.34 billion in assets, over 800 employees and 58 banking locations throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. United Financial Bancorp, Inc., the Bank’s Holding Company, trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Stock Market under the ticker symbol “UBNK.” In September 2017, Fortune Magazine ranked United Financial #39 on their 100 Fastest Growing Companies List.
Eastern Savings and Loans Credit Union Limited is a not-for-profit member-owned financial co-operative, based in Ipswich and operating through 25 local payment and information points in the East Anglian counties of Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. The credit union has 6,500 members.
Farmington Bank was a full-service community bank in Connecticut and western Massachusetts headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut.
Luis Antonio Ubiñas is an American investor, businessman and nonprofit leader. He served as the president of the Ford Foundation from 2008 through 2013. Prior to joining the Ford Foundation, he had an 18-year career as a senior partner at McKinsey & Company. He is currently on the board of several public and private corporations, including Electronic Arts, where he is Lead Director and chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee, ATT and Tanger. He also advises several private companies, including Ebsco, the digital information provider. Last, he is a trustee of the Mercer Funds. In the nonprofit sector, he served as president of the Board of Trustees of the Pan American Development Foundation from 2015 to 2019, serves as an Advisory Committee member for the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships, is Chairman of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation and serves on the Executive Committee of the New York Public Library. He is also active in the arts as a collector, donor and board member.
First County Bank is a bank that conducts business primarily in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. The Bank has more than 220 employees, assets in excess of $1.5 billion and is a 2016-2018 Women’s Choice Award winner. First County Bank is a full-service bank. It provides wealth management services through First County Advisors, the Wealth Management Division of First County Bank.
Dedham Savings is one of the oldest American banks still in operation and one of the oldest banks in the state of Massachusetts still doing business under its original charter.
Savings Bank of Danbury, is a full-service community bank and mortgage provider serving customers in Connecticut. The bank is headquartered in Danbury, Connecticut and was founded in 1849.
The Savings Bank is a state-chartered mutual bank headquartered in Wakefield, Massachusetts and founded in 1869. It is one of the oldest banks in the United States. The Savings Bank has over $655 million in assets, and 9 branches, serving residents of Wakefield, Lynnfield, Andover, Methuen, North Reading, and surrounding cities and towns. The Savings Bank became FDIC insured in 1985 and was assigned the FDIC certification number 90291. A wholly owned subsidiary of Wakefield Bancorp, MHC,
$75.491 million (2020) [1] 
$2.735 billion (2020)
