Photo courtesy of UniBank

UniBank said it has purchased a historic property located at 456 Hill St. in the heart of Whitinsville, the main village in the town of Northbridge.

The bank paid  $1 million for the property, according to a Worcester County deed.

The house was built in 1926 by Lawrence Murray Keeler and his wife Elizabeth (Whitin) Keeler, the great-granddaughter of Unibank founder John C. Whitin.

UniBank said the property will be renovated into a training and education center for bank employees, and the future headquarters of the UniBank Charitable Foundation.

“This is far more significant than just a purchase of real estate — it’s a bridge between the past and the future,” Timothy Wickstrom, chairman of the board at UniBank, said in a statement. “The historic homes in the Village of Whitinsville helped define an important period of advancement in our Country’s history. Sadly, several of those historic homes have been lost, making this preservation project all the more vital. With this purchase and renovation, UniBank ensures that an important piece of Whitinsville’s heritage remains intact – not just as a landmark, but as a living part of its future.”

UniBank traces its origins to Whitinsville Savings Bank, which was founded in 1873 by John C. Whitin and Uxbridge Savings Bank, which merged to form UniBank in 1988.

“When we established the UniBank Charitable Foundation in 2018, it was to ensure that our legacy of giving back would live on in perpetuity,” CEO Michael Welch said in a statement. “Now, the Foundation will have a home rooted in our history — once owned by the family of John C. Whitin, whose commitment to philanthropy, civic leadership, and community helped shape our mission today.”