Merchants Savings and Trust accounts
The Jewish Encyclopedia
of Western Pennsylvania
A project of the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center
Merchants’ Savings and Trust Company was a financial institution based in the Fifth Avenue wholesaling district in uptown Pittsburgh. The bank received its state charter in 1902 and commissioned a four-story building at 1410-1412 Fifth Avenue from architects Struthers and Hannah.[1]“New Banking Institution on Fifth Avenue,” Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, Sept. 27, 1902 (online—Newspapers.com). The state closed the bank on September 24, 1931 to protect creditors during the economic instability of the early years of the Great Depression.[2]“Merchants Trust Bank Fails to Open,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 24, 1931 (online—Newspapers.com).
Merchants’ Savings and Trust Company actively courted Jewish customers in the Hill District and Fifth Avenue sections of the city. It regularly advertised in the local Jewish Criterion and included at least three Jewish merchants (James Cohen, Herman Obernauer, and Jacob Bernstein) among its initial 15-member board of directors.[3]Merchants Savings and Trust Company advertisement, Jewish Criterion, August 14, 1903, p. 6 (online). Over its three decades in existence, the bank held accounts for at least nine Jewish congregations and remained the preferred financial institution for hundreds of Jewish customers even as the Jewish population was migrating away from the Hill District into eastern neighborhoods.[4]Merchants Savings and Trust Company checking accounts database (online). The bank issued a bond to raise funds for the construction of the first Kether Torah synagogue in 1921.[5]Kether Torah Congregation bond, Corinne Azen Krause Papers [MSS 113], Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center (online). It also contributed to Jewish causes, such as the Jewish Relief Fund in 1922[6]“Fourth Installment of Contributions,” Jewish Criterion, March 17, 1921, p. 20 (online). and the Jewish Criterion’s Religious Education Campaign in 1931.[7]Religious Education Campaign advertisement, Jewish Criterion, June 12, 1931, p. 13 (online).
References
| ↑1 | “New Banking Institution on Fifth Avenue,” Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, Sept. 27, 1902 (online—Newspapers.com). |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | “Merchants Trust Bank Fails to Open,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 24, 1931 (online—Newspapers.com). |
| ↑3 | Merchants Savings and Trust Company advertisement, Jewish Criterion, August 14, 1903, p. 6 (online). |
| ↑4 | Merchants Savings and Trust Company checking accounts database (online). |
| ↑5 | Kether Torah Congregation bond, Corinne Azen Krause Papers [MSS 113], Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center (online). |
| ↑6 | “Fourth Installment of Contributions,” Jewish Criterion, March 17, 1921, p. 20 (online). |
| ↑7 | Religious Education Campaign advertisement, Jewish Criterion, June 12, 1931, p. 13 (online). |
