WCIS Bank

Last updated
WCIS Bank
WCIS Bank Worcester MA.jpg
USA Massachusetts location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location365 Main St., Worcester, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°15′53″N71°48′7″W / 42.26472°N 71.80194°W / 42.26472; -71.80194
Arealess than one acre
Built1851 (1851)
ArchitectWinslow & Bigelow
Architectural styleClassical Revival
MPS Worcester MRA
NRHP reference No. 80000606 [1]
Added to NRHPMarch 05, 1980

The WCIS Bank is a historic and unusual bank building at 365 Main Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is fashioned out of two separate buildings, each of which has served as a home for the Worcester County Institution for Savings, the county's first chartered savings bank (in 1828). The older part of the building, from c. 1851, is at the corner of Foster and Norwich Street, and was built as a joint venture between the bank's parent, the Worcester Bank, and the Boston and Worcester Rail Road. It is a granite structure three stories high, decorated in Italianate styling. It originally featured windows with broken-scrolled pediments on the second story, and bracketed flat hoods over the windows on the third story, but these and other details were compromised by stuccoing done in the 1960s. [2]

The WCIS moved to a newly-constructed building at the corner of Main and Foster (365 Main Street) in 1906. This is also a granite three story building, with large Doric columns in the center of its main facade. These front the main banking hall, which is located in the building's center. Needing additional space, the bank repurchased the Foster Street building, and joined the two together in 1953. [2] The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. [1]

The Worcester County Institute for Savings was established in 1828, and remained in close association with its parent organization, the Worcester Bank, until 1903. The bank's presidents include a number of Worcester luminaries, including Daniel Waldo, Alexander Bullock, Stephen Salisbury II, and Stephen Salisbury III. [2] The bank was merged into the First National Bank of Boston in 1994.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abbott Street School</span> United States historic place

The Abbott Street School is a historic school building at 36 Abbott Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built in 1894, it is a good local example of Romanesque Revival architecture. It served as a public school until 1981, after which it was converted to residential use. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bancroft Tower</span> United States historic place

Bancroft Tower is a 56-foot-high (17 m) tower of granite and natural stone, which looks like a miniature feudal castle. It is in Salisbury Park, in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts. The folly was erected in 1900, in memory of George Bancroft, a native of Worcester and a politician, historian, and statesman. The tower was designed by Worcester architects Earle and Fisher, and cost about $15,000 to build. Bancroft Tower is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bank Building (Uxbridge, Massachusetts)</span> United States historic place

The Bank Building was a historic commercial building located at 40-44 South Street, in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. Until its destruction by fire in 2013, it was the best-preserved of Uxbridge's 19th century commercial buildings. It was built in 1895–96, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pequoig Hotel</span> United States historic place

The Pequoig Hotel is an historic former hotel building at 416 Main Street in Athol, Massachusetts. Built in 1894 by a leading local developer, it is downtown Athol's largest and most prominent building. After serving as a hotel into the 1950s, it was converted into a senior living facility in 1982. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stony Farm</span> United States historic place

Stony Farm is a historic farmstead in Holden, Massachusetts. Built about 1790, the main house is a well-preserved local example of Federal architecture, and the surviving elements of the one-extensive farm property are a reminder of Holden's predominantly agrarian past. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Army of the Republic Hall (Worcester, Massachusetts)</span> United States historic place

The G.A.R. Hall, formerly the Bull Mansion, is a historic Grand Army of the Republic Hall at in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is an ornate Victorian Gothic/Stick style two-story granite structure, designed by noted New York City architect Calvert Vaux. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worcester Five Cents Savings Bank</span> United States historic place

The Worcester Five Cents Savings Bank is a historic bank building at 316 Main Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. The six story Romanesque Revival building was constructed in 1891 to a design by Stephen Earle. The building is unusual in downtown Worcester for its use of limestone and buff brick, and for its rounded corner bay. The building originally had plate glass and iron store fronts on its ground floor, but this was redone in matching limestone sometime after 1949.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willard Richmond Apartment Block</span> United States historic place

The Willard Richmond Apartment Block is an historic apartment house at 43 Austin Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built sometime between 1879 and 1886, it is one of the first apartment blocks built in the Main-Wellington-Chandler area, which had one of the city's highest concentrations of such buildings by 1900. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Babcock Block</span> United States historic place

The Babcock Block is a historic commercial building at 596 Main Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built in the 1860s, it is a rare example of granite construction in the period. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downing Street School</span> United States historic place

The former Downing Street School, now the Traina Center for the Arts of Clark University, is a historic school building at 92 Downing Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built in 1891 to a design by Boston-based architect William Forbush, it is a high-quality local example of Romanesque Revival architecture. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Goddard House</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Harry Goddard House or Goddard-Daniels House is an historic house at 190 Salisbury Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built in 1905 for a local wire company executive, it is one of the city's finest examples of Colonial Revival architecture, and a significant residential design of local architect George Clemence. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and has been owned by the American Antiquarian Society since 1981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mechanics' Hall District</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The Mechanics' Hall District is a historic district encompassing a city block of downtown Worcester, Massachusetts, United States that preserves its late 19th-century appearance. It is located on Main Street between Exchange and Foster Streets, and includes the Worcester Five Cents Savings Bank building and Mechanics Hall. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Newton House</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Charles Newton House is a historic house at 24 Brattle Street in Worcester, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pleasant Street Firehouse</span> United States historic place

The Pleasant Street Firehouse is an historic former firehouse at 408 Pleasant Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. One of three fire stations built by the city in 1873, it was Worcester's oldest active firehouse when it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. It has since been converted to commercial retail use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otis Putnam House</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Otis Putnam House is a historic house at 25 Harvard Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built in 1887 to a design by Fuller & Delano for a prominent local department store owner, it is a fine local example of Queen Anne architecture executed in brick. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. It now houses offices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salisbury Factory Building</span> United States historic place

There are two historic Salisbury Factory Buildings in Worcester, Massachusetts. The first of these, at 25 Union Street, was built in 1879, and is a five-story brick building with modest Victorian Gothic trim. The second, at 49-51 Union Street, was built in 1882, is a three-story brick building designed by local architect Stephen Earle. These two buildings are the only ones that survive of a series of factory buildings built by Stephen Salisbury II and Stephen Salisbury III in the Lincoln Square area north of Worcester's downtown. The Salisburys rented space out to small manufacturers in these buildings, introducing a trend that dominated the industrial development of the city. Most of their buildings were demolished during redevelopment of the area in the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Item Building</span> United States historic place

The Item Building is a historic commercial building at 26 Albion Street in Wakefield, Massachusetts. Built in 1912, the single-story brick building serves as the headquarters of The Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield's main community newspaper, and is a well-kept example of early 20th century commercial architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen C. Earle</span> American architect

Stephen Carpenter Earle was an architect who designed a number of buildings in Massachusetts and Connecticut that were built in the late 19th century, with many in Worcester, Massachusetts. He trained in the office of Calvert Vaux in New York City. He worked for a time in partnership with James E. Fuller, under the firm "Earle & Fuller". In 1891, he formed a partnership with Vermont architect Clellan W. Fisher under the name "Earle & Fisher".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Safety Fund National Bank</span> United States historic place

The Safety Fund National Bank is a historic bank building at 470 Main Street in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Completed in 1895, it is a prominent work of local architect H.M. Francis, and one of its only buildings to continuously house a bank since its construction. The building, now home to a TD Bank branch, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Hampshire Savings Bank Building</span> United States historic place

The New Hampshire Savings Bank Building is a historic commercial building at 97 North Main Street in downtown Concord, New Hampshire, across Capitol Street from the New Hampshire State House. The five story granite building was built in 1926-27 for what is now the oldest bank in the city, and was the only bank building built in the city in the first half of the 20th century. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 "NRHP nomination for WCIS Bank". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2014-01-23.