The Provident Institution for Savings had offices on Court Street and in Scollay Square before moving to a new building on Tremont Street (above, right). Photographer unknown | Public domain

To celebrate its 150th anniversary, Banker & Tradesman is highlighting significant moments in the history of Massachusetts’ real estate and banking industries. To suggest a topic, email editorial@thewarrengroup.com.

What: Provident Institution for Savings in the Town of Boston Opens
When: Feb. 19, 1817
Where: Court Street, Boston

• The Provident Institution for Savings began accepting deposits in February 1817 as the first mutual savings bank incorporated in the U.S. The bank’s founder, James Savage, made the initial deposit of $10. 

• The bank’s incorporators included Josiah Quincy, and Savage also had the support of Boston’s first Roman Catholic bishop, Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus, who wanted “a secure place of deposit for the earnings of his parishioners, who for lack of a place to deposit their savings were wont to squander them,” according to the bank’s internal history. 
• The Provident Institution for Savings remained a mutual bank until 1983, when it converted to a stock bank. It was acquired by the Hartford National Corp. in 1986 but continued to operate under its own name until 1992, even after Hartford National combined with Shawmut Bank in a 1988 merger-of-equals.  

“The savings bank idea being a new one, people had to be instructed, and the prospectus…is said to have been nailed upon trees on the Common. The bank was open for business only one day in the week, and at the end of the first year, the deposits amounted to $67,667.44.”  

— From “One Hundred Years of Savings Bank Service,” a history published by the bank to mark its 100th anniversary