Blackstone & Uxbridge National Bank (25 North Main St) - Uxbridge Common District - Uxbridge MA - NRHP Historic Districts - Contributing Buildings on Waymarking.com

Built in 1914 and extensively rebuilt in between 1939 and 1955, the Blackstone & Uxbridge Bank Building now consists of a central pavilion of 6 bays' width, flanked by two lower wings of two bays' width each. The central pavilion has single windows in each of its outer bays and in its central two bays. Each window contains 12/12 sash with decorated lintel surmounted by a "cast-stone" panel. The facade's other two bays' contain entry porches with dressed granite stairs, Tuscan columns supporting pediments and arched entry surrounds with semi-circular fanlights.

The Bank Building derives its historical significance from its original use by the Blackstone National Bank and the Uxbridge Savings Bank. Organized in 1825 by Moses Chapin, John Capron, Effingham Capron, and other local merchants and manufacturers, the Blackstone Bank was Uxbridge's first bank. Its founding co-incides with the town's industrial development, as early manufacturers soon found i t necessary to have a local bank to discount bank notes sent to them by distant customers. The bank initially occupied rooms in a house on North Main Street; however, in 1827 space in the Capron Building was offered to the bank for the rent of one peppercorn each year, by John Capron a local merchant and the bank's first president. As evidence of the bank's usefulness to local businessmen, "Capron maintained that the very existence of the bank in their building was enough of a convenience to them to warrant the free rental." In 1865, the bank was re-incorporated as the Blackstone National Bank.

In 1896, when the Capron Building burned, the bank moved to the Bank Building which had been built privately and was merely rented to the bank. In 1914, the Blackstone Bank moved to its present building. Throughout its history, the bank has been associated with local industries, with industrialists such as Paul Whitin and Moses Taft serving as its president. The Uxbridge Savings Bank was founded in 1870 by Moses Taft, perhaps due to changes in state banking laws which defined more carefully the roles of commercial and savings banks.

Name of Historic District (as listed on the NRHP): Uxbridge Common District Link to nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com page with the Historic District: [Web Link] NRHP Historic District Waymark (Optional): [Web Link] Address: 25 North Main St How did you determine the building to be a contributing structure?: Other (Please explain in the Private Message field) Optional link to narrative or database: [Web Link]

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