Delaware County National Bank is a historic

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

building in

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Philadelphia metropolitan area (also known as the Delaware Valley) on the western bank of the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. ...

, located at the southwest corner of 3rd Street and Avenue of the States (formerly Market Square) adjacent to the Old St. Paul's Church burial ground. It was built between 1882 and 1884, and is a -story masonry building in the

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of ...

style. It is built of brick and

brownstone Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material. Ty ...

and has a low hipped

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

-covered roof. The roof features metal cresting, five projecting decorated chimneys, and four

Corinthian order The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric or ...

pilasters supporting the front

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a Roof pitch, pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the ...

. It was headquarters for the Delaware County National Bank from 1884 to 1930. ''Note:'' This includes

History

During the construction of the current building in 1882, the Bank transacted business in the old kitchen annex of the cashier's home. Delaware County National Bank was chartered by the Pennsylvania state government in 1814 and was Delaware County's first bank. In 1864, the bank was incorporated as a national bank. In 1882, the Board of Directors determined that the bank had outgrown the original 1814 building and hired Patrick A. Welsh to design a new building. The building was razed and the current Delaware County National Bank was built on the same site. In 1930, the building stopped serving as the offices of the Delaware County National Bank. Since then it has served as offices for the Crozer-Chester Medical Center, the

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual Un ...

and the RDC Institute. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1987.

Notable people affiliated with Delaware County National Bank

* John Price Crozer - Wealthy textile manufacturer who was a director from 1825 to 1862. His son, Samuel A. Crozer, was president of the bank from 1864 to 1865. * Edward Darlington - US Congressman from Pennsylvania was a director at the Delaware County National Bank. * Alfred O. Deshong - Industrialist and art collector. Elected director of the bank in 1895. * John O. Deshong - A wealthy businessman was a director of the bank from 1845 until his death in 1881. * Peter Deshong - One of the organizers of the bank and was elected director March 10, 1815. Deshong held the position of director for 10 years. He was the first

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is distin ...

of the bank and served on the board until his death in 1827. * Samuel Edwards - U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania was a director at the bank. * David Reese Esrey - Co-owner of the Powhattan Mills, manufacturers of cotton goods, was a director of the bank from 1878 until his death in 1898. *

David Trainer David Trainer is an American television director. He is known for directing every episode of the Fox sitcom ''That '70s Show'', with the exception of " That '70s Pilot", which was directed by Terry Hughes instead, and every episode of the Netfli ...

- The textile manufacturer and owner of the Linwood Mills, was a director of the bank and the third president from 1874-1875.

Images

File:Delaware County National Bank built 1815.jpg, The old Delaware County National Bank built in 1815 and demolished in 1882 File:Front of the Old Delaware County National Bank in the 1870s.jpg, Front of the old Delaware County National Bank in the 1870s File:Delaware County National Bank temporary quarters in 1882.jpg, Temporary quarters of the Delaware County National Bank in 1882 File:Delaware County National Bank Interior View.jpg, Interior of the Delaware County National Bank.

Citations

Sources

* * * {{Authority control 1814 establishments in Pennsylvania Bank buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Delaware County, Pennsylvania Chester, Pennsylvania Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Commercial buildings completed in 1884 National Register of Historic Places in Delaware County, Pennsylvania Renaissance Revival architecture in Pennsylvania