Saturday, August 1, 2020

The Turbotville National Bank

The Turbotville National Bank,  Corner of Church & Main Streets, 1910

The Turbotville National Bank first opened for business on August 1, 1910, Samuel N. Williamson made the first deposit.  Joseph W. Milnor, the first cashier, made the second deposit of the day.


In March of 1910, Joseph W. Milnor of Williamsport, formerly the deputy sheriff of Lycoming County, had by unanimous vote been elected cashier for the Turbotivlle National Bank.  The bank was at the time in the process of being constructed by the Hartman brothers of Williamsport.


The Wall Street Journal
July 1910

If you look in the window at the photo at the top, you can see this sign:
In this photo, it's part of the collection of old local signs





In December of 1920, robbers attempted to enter the vault, but were unable to do so.  
The attempt was discovered Saturday morning, by a janitor.  He noticed the grating leading to the basement was broken.  Upon further examination, he saw that someone had entered the cellar, forced open the door to the banking room, and very crude effort to open the vault had been made.  

The attempts were unsuccessful, but did damage the vault door.The burglars left their fingerprints behind, and in January of 1921, McLaughlin & Murphy were apprehended. 
Murphy was a well known "yeggman" (safe cracker) who had just recently been released from the Eastern Penitentiary. McLaughlin was serving a short sentence at Williamsport for vagrancy when his identity an role in the burglary  was discovered. The two men had also robbed the White Milling Company at Bloomsburg around the same time.
(The bank was also robbed in 1975, and 1992)

Clarence "Cap" Shade, with the bank in the background, 1920s


A new bank door was installed in 1927


In 1959, the bank moved to it's new building on route 54. (Just in time for Turbotville's Sesquicentennial)


July 1959


The Danville Morning News
April 1959


The Danville Morning News, 1985
The Bank installed it's first ATM in 1985

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Find More Stories & History Of Turbotville Here:

And More Stories, Photos, & History From Other Local Towns Here:


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READ MORE
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May 6 1910

March 25 1910

The Miltonian, July 1910


February 1959


April 1959





3 comments:

  1. I'm not sure where you got the photo of the $20 bill but I own it now. I bought it from a guy outside Philadelphia. Serial #64.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The first depositor, S. N. Williamson, was my great grandfather, who owned a butcher shop here in Turbotville. He later became a member of the bank’s board of directors, as did my grandfather (Sam), and my father (Richard).

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Turbotville Bank sign is no longer at Fick's hardware store.

    ReplyDelete

I'll read the comments and approve them to post as soon as I can! Thanks for stopping by!