Weise’s 1886 “The City of Troy and its Vicinity” recounts the early history of the Troy Savings Bank, which was incorporated by law in 1823. The board of managers first met at Platt Titus’s inn on August 1 of that year. The by-laws provided that the bank “should be opened on every Saturday evening, from 6 to 8 o’clock; that deposits of $1 and of larger amounts should be received; that no interest should be paid on sums less than $5; and that no fractional part of a dollar should be accepted.” The bank began business within the Farmers’ Bank on the northeast corner of First and State streets, “receiving from the first depositor, Martha Jefferson, a colored woman, $20.” The next year the bank moved to the Bank of Troy, on the northwest corner of the same intersection. In 1832, deposits were accepted at the office of the bank’s treasurer at 53 First Street, and then later at 8 First Street. In 1845, the Troy Savings Bank erected the Athenaeum Building on the east side of First, between River and State; the property would later be owned by the Troy Young Men’s Association. In 1846, the Savings Bank was in the banking room of the Commercial Bank, within the Athenaeum Building. In 1850, it took its own space on the south side of the hall. Finally, in 1875 (according to Weise; others say 1870), using $435,000 in accumulated earnings, the Troy Savings Bank moved into the lovely granite structure on the northeast corner of Second and State streets that we today associate with the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. Even after the Savings Bank was subsumed into First Niagara in 2004, banking continued on the first floor, until about a month ago, when the bank vacated the space. The last vestige of the old Savings Bank, which had a 181-year run, is gone.
The Music Hall, fortunately lives on, renowned for its magnificent acoustics. What will become of the first floor space is unknown at this time. Perhaps the bicycle club could move back in.
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