Rochester Savings Bank is a historic

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

building located at

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

Monroe County, New York Monroe County is a county in the Finger Lakes region of the State of New York. The county is along Lake Ontario's southern shore. At the 2020 census, Monroe County's population was 759,443, an increase since the 2010 census. Its county seat an ...

. It is a four-story, "V" shaped structure, sheathed in Kato stone from Minnesota. It was designed by

McKim, Mead and White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm that came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in fin de siècle New York. The firm's founding partners Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), Wil ...

and built in 1927 to house the Rochester Savings Bank. The building's banking room interior features murals painted by noted artist

Ezra Winter Ezra Augustus Winter (March 10, 1886 – April 6, 1949) was a prominent American muralist. Biography Winter was born in Traverse City, Michigan, trained at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts in 1908, and the American Academy in Rome in 1914. Wint ...

. ''Note:'' This includes an
''Accompanying three photographs''
/ref> It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1972. In 2011, the building was acquired by a group called Rochester Historic Ventures, which then set out to seek occupants that would allow the building to return to public use. In October 2012,

Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in the town of Henrietta, New York, Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree ...

announced the creation of a Center for Urban Entrepreneurship, to be housed in the Rochester Savings Bank building. The university plans to ultimately spend $3–5 million on renovations, eventually resulting in a multidisciplinary center and multiuse venue for RIT students. In 2016 after a lengthy renovation of the building Center for Urban Entrepreneurship by RIT opened in the building.

Institutional history

The bank was established in 1831 as the first savings (as opposed to commercial) bank west of

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

. The bank moved to its own building on State Street in 1842, to a second on Main and Fitzhugh Streets in 1857, and to its final building in 1927. Notable former board members include

Colby Chandler (CEO) Colby Hackett Chandler (1925/6 – March 4, 2021) was the chairman and chief executive officer of the Eastman Kodak Company. He was a graduate of the University of Maine and received his Master's degree in Management (M.B.A.) from the Sloan Fell ...

Marion B. Folsom Marion Bayard Folsom (November 23, 1893 – September 27, 1976) was an American government official and businessman. He served as the U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare from 1955 to 1958 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Biogra ...

, and

Joseph C. Wilson (entrepreneur) Joseph Chamberlain Wilson (December 19, 1909 – November 22, 1971) was the founder of the Xerox Corporation, a graduate of the University of Rochester and a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Beta Phi chapter). He helped to develop xe ...

. Notable former employees include Abraham M. Schermerhorn and

George Eastman George Eastman (July 12, 1854March 14, 1932) was an American entrepreneur who founded the Kodak, Eastman Kodak Company and helped to bring the photographic use of roll film into the mainstream. He was a major philanthropist, establishing the ...

Gallery

File:Rochester Savings Bank, Rochester, N.Y, by Monroe, George H. --(Hibbard), 1851-1916.png, 1857 bank building on the corner of Main and Fitzhugh Streets, adjacent to the Rochester Free Academy Rochester Savings Bank side entrance.jpg, Service entrance on the west side of the bank

References

External links

Monroe County (NY) Library System - Rochester Images - Rochester Savings BankCenter for Urban Entrepreneurship homepage
Commercial buildings in Rochester, New York Bank buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) McKim, Mead & White buildings Commercial buildings completed in 1927 National Register of Historic Places in Rochester, New York {{MonroeCountyNY-NRHP-stub