JUST IN: The Harry's Taproom restaurant will come to Ambler to occupy the former Ambler Trust Company building!
To view the restaurant's website and menu, click on the link HERE!
But first, let's take a look at its history and the architecture behind this elegant, colonial-style building.
Early Construction of the Ambler Trust Company
In 1916, a building committee was appointed to model a new bank building on the corner of Butler Pike and Main Street. The committee included T. Duncan Just, R.J. McCloskey, Howard J. Dager, William M. Evans, and Ellsworth L. Posey.
They hired architect Leonard H. Davis and master carpenter Howard S. Amey to design and construct the building. There is little known about Leonard H. Davis, but he was previously a building superintendent of the architecture firm Cope & Stewardson, and became a general contractor with James B. Flounders, a fellow contractor.
Howard S. Amey previously worked at the Keasbey & Mattison Company for 5 years, the left to become a carpenter. Many of the homes and business buildings in Ambler were built by Howard S. Amey.
While the building plans were being made, the committee asked PA Governor Martin Grove Brumbaugh to grant a charter of the incorporation of the Ambler Trust Company. Its charter was granted on October 30, 1916.
Construction of the building of the new bank was completed the following year, and it officially opened its doors on September 8, 1917. On their first day, $78,729.34 was deposited.
Fun Fact #1: The first president of the Ambler Trust Company was William C. Brister, grandfather of Jack Brister who was the first few Americans to fight alongside the Allies months before the US joined WW2.
"Without a doubt the new trust company will be a great help to the borough of Ambler in a business way, as it will draw to the town a large number of people from the outlying districts, some of whom have been doing their banking business elsewhere, but who are now interested in the new company, and who will make an effort to induce their friends to become depositors therein."
- Ambler Gazette, September 13, 1917
Architecture
The structure of the building was built out of bricks made from the Sayre & Fisher Company. Those bricks were also used on the buildings of the University of Pennsylvania.
On the front facade of the building, there are noticeable architectural features inspired by the Greek and colonial architecture:
Inside the building, there's a vestibule that leads to the lobby or public space in the central part of the building. On the right side was a treasurer's room and the teller's cage adjacent to each other. There was also a section of the building that was specifically for the women patrons of the bank. On the first floor was a customers' room, the trust officers' and settlement clerk's room, toilets, and the president's room. The director's office was located upstairs.
The cash vault was located directly underneath the center of the balcony, and was separated from the public lobby by an "ornamental iron grille."
In the basement held safe deposit vaults and storage of trunks, silverware, and other valuables. The basement also had a heating room and coal bins.
Throughout the building, it contains mezzanine floors, meaning...
"... an intermediate floor between main floors of a building, and therefore typically not counted among the overall floors of a building. Often, a mezzanine is low-ceilinged and projects in the form of a balcony. The term is also used for the lowest balcony in a theatre, or for the first few rows of seats in that balcony. The word mezzanine comes from Italian mezzano 'middle'."
- Avanta, "A Guide to Mezzanine Floors"
Bibliography
"A Guide to Mezzanine Floors." Avanta. Accessed January 15, 2022. https://www.avantauk.com/what-is-a-mezzanine-floor/.
"Ambler Trust Company." Ambler Gazette. October 19, 1916. Page 8. http://digitalcollections.powerlibrary.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/wivp-gazett/id/7078/rec/1.
"Ambler Trust Company." Ambler Gazette. September 13, 1917. Page 4. http://digitalcollections.powerlibrary.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/wivp-gazett/id/7827/rec/54.
"Google Maps Area Calculator Tool." DaftLogic. Accessed January 15, 2022. https://www.daftlogic.com/projects-google-maps-area-calculator-tool.htm.
Hunsicker, Clifton Swenk. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania: A History, Volume 3. (New York; Chicago, Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1923): 558-559.
Mueller, A. H. Atlas of the North Penn Section of Montgomery County, Pa., Plate 26, 1916.
Philadelphia Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 26, n. 1 (1911): 21.
"The Ambler Trust Company." Ambler Gazette. January 18, 1917. Page 2. http://digitalcollections.powerlibrary.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/wivp-gazett/id/9694/rec/9.
Tierney, Kevin. "Harry’s Taproom planning move from Blue Bell to downtown Ambler." Around Ambler. Last modified October 6, 2021. https://aroundambler.com/harrys-taproom-planning-move-from-blue-bell-to-downtoan-ambler/.
"Whitlock’s Whitpain." Wissahickon Valley Historical Society. Accessed December 23, 2021. https://www.wvalleyhs.org/whittocks-whitpain/.