Page 45 - The History of Watertown Savings Bank_Neat

Watertown Daily Times photos Watertown Daily Times photos

At the Ground Breaking ceremony in 1959, Grace E. Bell, retired At the bank’s opening in 1960, (l to r) Grace Bell, Thera Bisnaw, Incentives offered to customers who opened or added to savings
official of the bank and J. Emmett Conners, who has the bank’s oldest assistant secretary, Watertown Mayor William G. Lachenauer, Paul accounts.Depositors could choose from a blanket, coffee maker,
passbook, do the honors. E. Brown, chairman of the board of supervisors, James McGowan, casserole dish, or tea set.
bank president and S. Brown Northrop of the board of trustees.
Watertown Savings Bank officials hired local The project took just over a year to complete The new headquarters of WSB was also
architect Horace C. Montgomery, 270 Paddock and a ground-breaking ceremony was held on equipped with state-of-the art modern
St, in 1958 to design the new bank headquarters June 18, 1959. The outside of the new one- technology to serve the evolving savings and
building on Clinton Street. The following year, story modern bank building was finished in mortgage needs of the community.
the bank purchased two properties on Clinton Vermont marble, with the bronze initials W.S.B. One of the new technology highlights was
and Mullin Streets to begin construction of the embellishing the Clinton Street façade. an electronic computer to automatically credit
new office. The new building had 50 parking spaces, a interest on deposits made the same day. At that

The brick mansion at 129 Clinton had been covered main entrance arcade, and more than time, it was considered a “revolutionary new
owned by Dr. Walter S. Atkinson and Dr. double the work space for bank staff and customers. service” for paying interest to customers.
Lawrence E. Henderson. The second property It included a spacious and modernized lobby, a WSB became the first financial institution in
was an apartment house at 124 Mullin Street, mortgage department, safe deposit boxes, conference Northern New York to adopt the policy of having
which at one time had been the childhood home rooms, a community room and new vaults. interest compounded daily and paid quarterly
of Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. Two main features of the new bank were the on deposit accounts when it introduced this new

By acquiring both properties, WSB was able drive-through teller’s window and a 24-hour technology in 1960.
to create two entrances that would enable its depository, both on the Washington Street side “The adoption of this new system will enable us to
customers to enter the bank’s new parking lot of the building. These features were included to better serve our customers and a growing Watertown,”
from either Clinton or Mullin Streets. meet the growing needs of WSB customers. Mr. McGowan was quoted at the time.

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