There’s been a Peoples bank – of one sort or another – in Maine since 1875. On Monday, it began its disappearance from the financial landscape.

Peoples is no more.

Peoples Heritage Bank officially changed its name to TD Banknorth, one of the side effects of a merger between the Portland-based Banknorth Group and Canada-based TD Bank Financial Group.

The Peoples brand started in 1875 with Auburn’s Peoples Savings Bank. In 1984, it became Peoples Heritage after merging with Rockland’s Heritage Savings.

Bank names change all the time. We’ve often heard people only half joke that if they had the money that has been spent on changing bank signs, they wouldn’t have to worry about working any more.

TD Banknorth promises that customers won’t see any changes in service or account numbers because of the change. The goal is to bring all 397 of the bank’s branches, which are scattered around the Northeast, and the ATMs under the same banner.

Nonetheless, it’s tough not to feel a little tug of nostalgia when an institution with Peoples’ long history disappears from the Maine lexicon.