The Citizens National Bank of Slatington aka Citizens National Bank (506 Main Street) opened its doors on 1 February 1902 with a capital of $50,000. The bank occupied space in the former Rice’s building on the northwest corner of Main and Second Streets and later, in 1907, purchased the entire building for $15,000. This was a three-story, painted-brick building, originally constructed in 1885, with store rooms, offices and a masonic hall on the third floor.
Earlier view of the Citizens National Bank circa 1915
In 1930, the bank underwent a major remodeling with the enlargement of the bank on the first floor, and more importantly from its visual appearance, the building was covered with Indiana limestone, making it a nice example of a neo-classical revival style building. In 1948 an annex for Bell Telephone was added to the back of the building. At one time, the local telephone exchange had been located upstairs in the building.
Timeline:
- 1999 merged into the Citizens National Bank of Lansford, PA
- 2004 merged into The Harleysville National Bank and Trust Co.
- 2010 merged into First Niagara Bank
- 2016 merged into KeyBank (Cleveland)
In December 2022, the KeyBank branch in Slatington closed, bringing to an end the 120-year history of the Citizens National Bank.
Growing up in Slatington we always did business with the Citizens National Bank. When we were in elementary school back in the 1960s, the bank ran a savings program where we could deposit a quarter each week into a savings account. The money was collected each week in class, sent to the bank, and then recorded in our savings book. The interest rate was very good, about 6%.
Later, I got my first car loans there back in the 1970s, and I also did my undergraduate student loan there around 1980.
I would always save up my pocket change and then once a year, I would take it into the bank and have it counted and then deposited into my savings account. I did that even after I had moved away from Slatington.
I remember my dad, the steward at the American Legion post right next door to the bank, using the night-time, security drop box at the bank to deposit money there.
It had a beautiful, spacious interior with a massive bank vault. I do not ever recall actually being in the vault.
And finally, my grandmother always referred to the two banks in Slatington as the upper and lower banks, even though they were basically just a couple of hundred feet apart from one another. She always did business with the lower bank, the Citizens National Bank.
The former Citizens National Bank in the shadows of the Baptist Church, 2023