Camden Safe Deposit & Trust Company - Camden, NJ - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

This building was made in 1929 according to the cornerstone. There are so many really cool things about this building which still serves as a bank today. The entrance has two amazing sconces to the left and right. On the left and front, inscribed in the stone 40 feet off the ground is the original name of the company which used this building, Camden Trust Company. There is another relief, stone mini-sculpture which has the incorporation date of 1873. Twenty-seven arched windows grace the sids and front. Above them are another group of windows which are more rectangular. On the ground floor are larger versions of the arched windows, and half the amount.

Across the street is a 100+ year old church. Caddy-corner is City Hall, another building which is also an amazing work of art, also built in '29. Basically this street, and the others around it are all from the 20's and all are beautiful. Several other banks like this one were constructed in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Most of them are lost in the blight and desperation of the city. When I visited this bank to snap my photos, it was almost dusk. The moment the sun set and only a thin strip of orange light remained over the horizon, local began to talk the street and a few began to make their way toward me. I ran as fast as I could back to my car. Chances are I would not have made it out in time. If you consider visiting the scores of NRHP sites, only do it in the daytime!

Our town of Camden has a wonderful website by Phil Cohen. He has assembled a wealth of information about this city. Included in this is a history of this NRHP site. Here is the cut and paste version of the history:

The Camden Trust traces its origin back to July 1, 1873, when the The Camden Insurance, Safe Deposit & Trust Company, first opened for business, at 224 Federal Street. Over a period of seventy-five years, the bank merged with other local banks such as the Security Trust Company, Central Trust Company, East End Trust Company, and American National Bank Bank. The bank relocated, and underwent name changes prior to achieving it's "modern" format in 1938. At that point the institution was the largest bank in South Jersey.

The Camden Safe Deposit & Trust Company opened its new building at the northeast corner of Broadway and Market Street on October 31, 1892. A new building was built on the same location in 1928, which still stands in 2006. The Central Trust Company was absorbed by the Camden Safe Deposit & Trust Company in 1927. After the merger, the Central Trust building at 4th & Federal Street became the home of the Equitable Beneficial Insurance Company, and remains as into the 21st century.

In 1938 the Camden Safe Deposit & Trust Company shortened its name to that of Camden Trust. By the time America became involved in World War II, the bank had acquired two more banks, the American National Bank at Broadway and Amber Street in South Camden, and the East End Trust on Federal Street in East Camden. By the time it celebrated its 75th Anniversary, in 1948, the Camden Trust was the largest bank in South Jersey, and seventh largest in the state, with branches in Camden, Gloucester City, Haddonfield, and Blackwood. SOURCE