A Look Back at Delmont… Peoples National Bank of Delmont Souvenir Banks

A LOOK BACK at…

Peoples National Bank of Delmont – Souvenir Banks

The Peoples National Bank of Delmont was organized in 1911, and opened for business in the south end of the building which was later occupied by the Delmont Fireman’s Club on Greensburg Street.
In August 1926, Peoples Bank began construction of a new bank building at the corner of present-day Greensburg, Freeport and East Pittsburgh Streets. The handsome, 50 by 30- foot building was completed by March 1927.

The bank prospered for the next two years until the 1929 stock market crash. Beginning in October, 1930, there were heavy withdrawals. On June 4, 1931, Peoples Bank failed to open for business. Like so many banks of that era, it became a casualty of the Great Depression.
Peoples Bank, most likely, gave school children who opened a savings account a souvenir “piggy bank” like the one in this photo. Unfortunately, as it turned out, their money was a lot safer in the miniature bank than it was in the real one. It’s a very handsome, and now rare, souvenir! Have you ever seen one?