Hotz off the Press: Castle Views and Bank News in Wilmerding
Wilmerding’s rich industrial past, Westinghouse legacy, and historic national banks reveal how one Pennsylvania company town became a surprising hub of American banking history.
Wilmerding, Pennsylvania, is a small borough in Allegheny County, roughly 12 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. The Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO) founded the community as a model company town. Organized in 1869, WABCO produced a new style air brake that improved performance and increased speed on the nation’s railways. Later, the company expanded into Westinghouse Electric Corporation with facilities around the country. My father spent over 30 years of his career in management at the Westinghouse plant next to Baltimore’s BWI Airport.
George Westinghouse purchased land in the Turtle Creek Valley of Allegheny County in 1887 and 1888 as a site for his Westinghouse Air Brake Company and related facilities. Westinghouse then sold the land to the East Pittsburgh Improvement Company, incorporated in December 1888 to develop the site, and it began the sale of lots in June 1889, when the town of Wilmerding was founded. The community was named for Joanna Wilmerding Negley, wife of William B. Negley, a local landowner from whom much of the land for the town was purchased.
The Air Brake Company employed as many as 3,000 workers, almost all of them from the immediate Wilmerding area. In addition, Wilmerding was conveniently located on the Pennsylvania Railroad. The town grew and prospered in tandem with WABCO. By 1905, over 2,000,000 freight, passenger, mail, baggage, and express cars and 89,000 locomotives were equipped with the Westinghouse Air Brakes. Westinghouse was a very benevolent employer: it purchased land and built low-cost houses for its workers and instituted some of the most progressive working conditions in the country.
The town was designed to be an “ideal” community where workers and industry grew hand-in-hand. Unlike the gritty industrial centers of the era, Wilmerding featured carefully planned streets, Victorian-style homes, and a range of amenities provided by the company. Westinghouse instituted progressive labor practices, such as half-day Saturdays and pension programs, which fostered a stable and loyal workforce. The Westinghouse Air Brake Company General Office Building, a striking Romanesque structure known locally as “The Castle,” was completed in 1890 and served as the administrative heart of the global air brake industry.
Naturally, a growing community tied to such a successful corporation would be an ideal site for a national bank or two. Accordingly, the East Pittsburg National Bank of Wilmerding was chartered in 1895 and received charter #5000. At the time of its founding, the official spelling of the nearby city was Pittsburg, the result of a national effort to standardize geographical spellings in the United States. This spelling was in use from 1890 to 1911, when the “h” was restored to the end of Pittsburgh. As such, early notes of this bank utilize the “h”-less spelling.
The East Pittsburg National Bank of Wilmerding was immediately successful and eventually constructed an impressive building on the corner of Westinghouse Ave. and Commerce St. in town. In 1902, Wilmerding acquired national bank competition with the opening of the Wilmerding National Bank, charter #6325, in a substantial building just across Commerce St. from the East Pittsburg National Bank. The Wilmerding National Bank issued around $900,000 in both red and blue seal varieties of Series 1902 notes, but it was unable to really compete. On July 9, 1923, it closed and merged with the East Pittsburg National Bank, which promptly changed its name to the First National Bank of Wilmerding, retaining charter #5000.
The First National Bank of Wilmerding, as the East Pittsburg National Bank was now called, continued as a successful financial institution and survived the end of the national currency era. Its total issue was just over $2.8 million in both large and small-sized notes. Despite the large issue, just a handful (currently 8) notes are known with the East Pittsburg title; later notes bearing the First National Bank title are quite common, with nearly 50 large (including several uncut sheets) and over 100 small (also including several uncut sheets) reported. Outstanding figures for this bank include notes from the Wilmerding National Bank, whose circulation was taken over by the First National.
Some years ago, a rather impressive hoard of notes of charter #5000 turned up on the market, consisting of several of the aforementioned uncut sheets and quite a few individual notes in high grade. The star of the group was the Serial #1 $10 brown back, the first note issued by the bank. I saw this group at the F.U.N Show, but it was for sale as a group only, and the seller would not break out the brown back note. I will admit I was immediately drawn to it: it was a very pretty note with lovely pen signatures, and the large charter #5000 across the back gave it extra appeal. In addition, it was accompanied by a short note to a descendant of the bank’s first president, John F. Miller, passing the note on.
Fortunately, a couple of years later, the note turned up for sale in a Lyn Knight auction, and I was able to add it to my holdings. Pieces from the Wilmerding National Bank are rather scarce, as the bank issued large notes only; just six are reported. Visiting Wilmerding was really quite fun. It was easy to get to, more or less, through the use of GPS.
WABCO still has a considerable presence in town and employs many. The first thing one notices when visiting Wilmerding is the impressive Westinghouse Castle. This is an ornate five-story edifice at the top of Commerce St. that overlooks the town. The Castle, as it is known, was designed in 1886 by Frederick Osterling to house the executive offices of WABCO. Constructed of Indiana limestone, it has 55,000 square feet of office and dining areas and 57 rooms. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, it houses a museum and is also available for meetings, receptions, and parties.
At the corner of Westinghouse Avenue and Commerce Street in the heart of the old business district are the old bank buildings. The First National Bank building, once an impressive three-story structure with a granite-faced entrance, has been shorn of its top floor and capped with an ugly rough stone overhang, under which one can still see the words “FIRST NATIONAL BANK” engraved on the old façade. Today, it houses the offices of the East Allegheny Family Center. Just across Commerce Street is the old Wilmerding National Bank building, a former three-story edifice also now shorn of its third level. Though the ground-level windows have been boarded over, the building still retains its original marble entrance columns and granite-faced supports. Though it boasted signs for Johnny’s Restaurant & Lounge, the building was vacant.
Courtesy Lee Paxton/Wikipedia
Wilmerding is easy to find and filled with an interesting past. The Westinghouse Castle is truly impressive, and the banks are easy to find.
Readers may address questions or comments about this article or national bank notes in general to Mark Hotz at markbhotz@gmail.com.
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