PeoplesBank is the largest

community bank A community bank is a depository institution that is typically locally owned and operated. Community banks tend to focus on the needs of the businesses and families where the bank holds branches and offices. Lending decisions are made by people w ...

Western Massachusetts Western Massachusetts, known colloquially as “Western Mass,” is a region in Massachusetts, one of the six U.S. states that make up the New England region of the United States. Western Massachusetts has diverse topography; 22 colleges and u ...

, providing banking and other financial services. As of 2020 it had $3.3 billion in assets.

History

PeoplesBank is a branch bank incorporated on March 19, 1885 as ''Peoples Savings Bank''. Its first president was William Skinner of William Skinner and Sons Silk, who would serve as the bank's president from its founding until 1901, a year before his passing. A number of prominent figures in Holyoke's founding would work for the bank, including architect

George P. B. Alderman George Perkins Bissell Alderman (September 20, 1862 – November 3, 1942), often referred to as George P. B. Alderman was an American architect who was very active in western Massachusetts and Connecticut during the late 19th and early 20th Cent ...

, who sat on its board, and Judge John Hildreth, as a clerk, whose Oakdale estate, the Yankee Pedlar, was reopened as a branch of the bank in 2019. It was first headquartered in Downtown Holyoke, Massachusetts with an additional office in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1974, the bank would expand its headquarters with a large Brutalist commercial block at the corners of High and Suffolk Streets as part of a city revitalization campaign, where it maintains a branch today. By October 2003, it formally changed its name to PeoplesBank, and operates as a subsidiary of PeoplesBancorp, MHC (Holyoke, MA), out of headquarters by the

Holyoke Mall The Holyoke Mall at Ingleside ( Holyoke Mall) is a shopping center located in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in the city's Ingleside neighborhood. It is owned by The Pyramid Companies. The mall features 135 stores, a large food court, and several restau ...

at 330 Whitney Avenue, formerly the offices of Community Savings Bank.

References

{{reflist 1885 establishments in Massachusetts Banks based in Massachusetts Banks established in 1885 Companies based in Holyoke, Massachusetts