The Old Town Museum invites the public to come city a recently restored piece of city history: A clock from the old Eastern Trust and Banking Co.
On May 1, 1969 the Eastern Trust and Banking Co. property at the corner of Main and Center Streets in Old Town was sold to First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Old Town. Shortly before or after the sale was completed the iconic clock which had adorned the bank was removed.
No records have been found as to when the clock first appeared on the bank’s corner. The property upon which the bank stood was purchased by the bank on April 4, 1913. The heirs of the Folsom estate sold the last remaining part of the Folsom Block to the bank. The sale was negotiated by bank director Herbert H. Gray; Moses Richardson signed the deed over to the bank as the representative of the estate.
The Old Town Enterprise of January 1, 1913 indicated, “The last remaining portion of Folsom Block which housed the Mutty Pharmacy was sold to Eastern Trust and Banking Co.” The Enterprise of June 1914 stated that “foundation work has begu,” and the building was completed sometime in late 1914. The Enterprise of December 19, 1914 stated, “Everyone admires the new building of the Eastern Trust and Banking Co. The well-known Folsom-Mutty corner will shine as it never did before when the building is complete and occupied. The inside will be no less attractive as it will house $750,000 in savings of the prudent people of Old Town, beside the commercial accounts which are enough more to run the deposits up to over one million of dollars. June 8th 1887 is the date the Eastern Trust & Banking Co. opened its doors in Old Town. This is the result of their 27 years of prosperous business.”
At some time after the iconic clock was removed from the corner of the bank building one face of the clock was donated to the Old Town Museum. The rest of the clock was sold to an antique dealer and disappeared from Old Town forever. Recently, Bill Osborne, a member of the museum’s board of directors, decided the clock face needed to be cleaned and presented in a better setting in the museum. The project started out as a simple cleaning of the stained glass, but soon turned into a much larger project. A new high torque motor was purchased for the clock, and a light box was built to house the clock face.
The clock now keeps perfect time, lights up, and chimes again just as it did over 50 years ago before it was taken down. Please stop by and see this piece of Old Town’s history restored to working order.
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