When was mellon bank founded

Ever since our inception, BNY Mellon has led the way with industry firsts by pushing harder and working smarter on behalf of the industry and our clients. Long before computers, industrial averages, or opening bells, New York City stockbrokers were changing the way the world does business. Twenty-four gathered under a buttonwood tree just steps from what was BNY Mellon's original headquarters to sign a document that would soon lead to the formation of the New York Stock Exchange.

After the stock market crash of October 29, , the world financial system was shaken. In the decades to follow, the Great Depression forced global markets to struggle to find solid ground. The Bank of New York didn't just weather the storm, they helped bring peace of mind to clients and showed gains when others could not.

Over Years of Looking Forward. Search terms. Sort Title Date Identifier Creator. Filter Results Date - Creator Associated Photographers, Inc. Subject Mellon Bank. Andrew William , Mobile 24 Hour Teller van. Mellon Bank Records. Braddock National Bank. Farmers Deposit Savings Bank employees with Prince. Andrew W. Exterior of Farmers Bank building after explosion. When he was five years old, his family moved to Pennsylvania, where he could often be found reading a book as he rode a plow across his father's fields.

He became a lawyer in , and although his practice did well, his investments in real estate, construction, and mortgages fared even better. In Judge Thomas Mellon retired from public service and founded T. Mellon and Sons, a private banking house at Smithfield Street in Pittsburgh. The bank prospered during the postwar years, and a second bank, run by Mellon's sons, opened soon after the first.

In the Panic of , when half the banks in Pittsburgh failed, the Mellons never closed either bank. Although Thomas Mellon died in , his sons, Andrew and Richard, were able to build upon their father's foundation to create the giant that would eventually play a key role in fueling industry throughout Pennsylvania and must of the rest of the country.

Gulf Oil grew to become the world's tenth-largest industrial corporation, and Alcoa became the world's largest aluminum manufacturer. The Mellons' monumental success with Mellon Bank and other such ventures is partly responsible for the long-held belief in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania that "nothing moves in Pittsburgh without the Mellons. Four financial institutions founded in the 19th century have contributed to the growth and history of Mellon Bank.

Besides T. After serving as president of T. Mellon and Sons from to , Thomas Mellon retired and turned the bank over to his son Andrew. Under Andrew's leadership, the bank financed the creation of Union Transfer and Trust Company; joined the national banking system as Mellon National Bank in ; formed its first foreign bureau, in , to provide banking services for customer activity outside the United States; and established a long tradition of growth through acquisitions and mergers.

In the late 19th century, goods were often sold with a three- or four-month grace period between delivery and payment due dates. Mellon and Sons profited from the common practice of buying at a discount the documents that showed the amount due and holding them until maturity to collect the full value. This business made T. Mellon and Sons the largest private bank between New York and Chicago. The bank soon decided to expand its range of operations, however, to include trust estates and related work, and created the Fidelity Title and Trust Company with the help of other investors.

Fidelity was an instant success--so much so that it found itself turning away business in order to avoid conflicts of interest between clients. Consequently, in it set up its own rival company, the Union Transfer and Trust Company, which became the Union Trust Company not long after. In an effort to consolidate the Mellons' banking interests, the family decided in that Mellon National Bank should become an almost wholly owned subsidiary of Union Trust.

While he served in Washington, D. Since Mellon National Bank was a federally chartered corporation and Union Trust and Union Savings were state banks, the Mellons were able to take advantage of both banking systems. Together, the banks could finance virtually any enterprise in the country by the s. In , Richard Mellon formed Mellbank Security Company, a bank holding company that helped save numerous smaller banks in western Pennsylvania during the Great Depression.

Mellon's knack for giving sound advice to its customers, together with its ability to maintain sufficient liquidity and one of the highest ratios of cash to deposits in the nation, played a major role in the bank's survival through the s. Indeed, since the Mellon name and conservative reputation were well known by the s, many of the panicked customers who withdrew their savings from other banks after the crash flocked to Mellon National. Seeing the crowds team into the bank, Richard Mellon reportedly muttered "I told those damn architects to make more room in the lobby.

After Richard's death in , his son, Richard K. Mellon, took over as president. Mellon Bank also entered the retail market by expanding its branch network and merging with Mellbank. By the middle of the 20th century, Mellon began to build a reputation for technological innovation, especially in cash management.