Building of the Day: 556 Nostrand Avenue, the Former People’s Trust Company

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    Brooklyn, one building at a time.

    Name: The former People’s Trust Company, now VIM, a casual clothing shop
    Address: 556 Nostrand Avenue
    Cross Streets: Corner Herkimer Street
    Neighborhood: Bedford Stuyvesant
    Year Built: 1911-1912
    Architectural Style: Neo-Classical
    Architect: Unknown, perhaps Mowbray & Uffinger
    Landmarked: No

    The story: The People’s Trust Company was one of the many, many banks founded in Brooklyn in the latter half of the 19th century. Between January and July of 1889 alone, Brooklyn saw the establishment of five new state banks and two trusts — one of them the People’s Trust.

    People’s Trust was founded by a group of wealthy and well-connected Brooklyn businessmen that included such well-known names of the day as Cornelius N. Hoagland, Henry W. Slocum, George L. Pease and James Jourdan.

    Hoagland was the Royal Baking Powder king of Clinton Hill, and Jourdan was Brigadier General James Jourdan, Civil War veteran, former Brooklyn Police Commissioner and Commissioner of the Board of Health, and soon-to-be head of Brooklyn Union Gas.

    The first president of the Trust was William H. Murtha, a former State Senator and millionaire coal merchant. The Trust opened with capital stock of $500,000, and a back-up surplus of $250,000.

    Because of the founders’ connections, wealth and good business sense, the People’s Trust was soon handling Brooklyn’s municipal funds. Its board of directors grew to include some of Brooklyn’s wealthiest bankers and financial wizards.

    Its first headquarters was an office in a building on Montague Street, near the corner of Clinton Street. By 1903, the Trust began buying out smaller local banks. That same year it began construction of a new, large and very grand Temple of Mammon across the street, at 183 Montague.

    People's Trust Bank, Montague St, BE 1904

    Bank opening, 1904, Brooklyn Eagle

    This building, designed by Mowbray & Uffinger, was a suitable home for a successful trust that was continuing to grow. Today, this is one of Montague Street’s most recognizable landmarked buildings.

    People’s Trust’s first merger was with the Bedford Bank, in 1903. In 1905, it merged the Wallabout Bank into its operations, followed in 1910 by the Homecrest Bank of Brooklyn.

    When the Trust took over the Bedford Bank, it established a beachhead in the upscale Bedford neighborhood. Its new branch was on the corner of Bedford Avenue and Halsey Street. But by 1911 they had outgrown that facility, and planned a new branch on Nostrand Avenue.

    556 Nostrand Avenue, People's Trust, BE 1912

    August 1912, Brooklyn Eagle

    Nostrand was replacing Bedford as the business center of the neighborhood. The Eagle noted that this area was a transportation hub, with multiple trolley lines and the LIRR nearby.

    Because of that, theaters, hotels and now banks were sited there. The Brevoort Savings Bank was on Nostrand, only a couple of blocks away on Macon Street. That Montrose Morris-designed bank was built only a bit earlier than this building.

    The papers made much of the new bank’s location next door to the new and impressive Kismet Temple, which belonged to the Shriners. Since the fraternal organization had many wealthy members, the Trust’s opening next door was another coup for the expansion of Bedford’s upscale amenities.

    556 Nostrand Avenue, People's Trust, GS, PS

    Greg Snodgrass for PropertyShark

    Although there was a lot of talk in the papers about how beautiful and impressive the new bank was, none of the articles mentioned the architect, and checking other sources likewise failed to turn up the name of the firm.

    It may have been Mowbray & Uffinger again, as this bank is similar to concurrent work they did in other cities — most notably the National Exchange Bank of Georgia in Atlanta. But while the Real Estate Record has quite a list of banks designed by them at this time, this bank is not on it.

    Natl Exchange Bank of Georgia, Mowbray & Uffinger, quarriesandbeyond.com 1

    National Exchange Bank of Georgia, Atlanta, via Quarries and Beyond.com

    The papers said that the ground floor would be taken up by the Trust, and the second floor would be occupied by a business tenant. When the bank opened in July of 1912, the Prudential Life Insurance Company was upstairs.

    By 1926, the bank had become the Federal People’s Trust of Brooklyn. It had many branches throughout the borough and beyond, and was one of the city’s largest and wealthiest banks. That year, it merged with the Federal National City Bank of New York.

    556 Nostrand Avenue, People's Trust, BE ad, 1915

    1915 Brooklyn Eagle ad

    By 1955, the name had changed to First National City Bank of New York. In 1962 the “New York” was dropped, and in 1976, First National City Bank became known as Citibank. The Nostrand Avenue branch remained open throughout all of these changes.

    The biggest thing to happen during this period was a bold robbery in 1968. Two robbers dressed as armored truck guards for Wells Fargo came in early, fooled the staff, signed for the money, and made off with $198,000. The theft was only discovered when the real Wells Fargo men showed up at their usual time.

    Citibank closed this branch in 1985 and opened a new branch in nearby Restoration Plaza on Fulton Street. There it joined Con Ed, the telephone company, and Brooklyn Union Gas as part of a one-stop convenience location.

    After Citibank left, the building was sold to a minority-owned enterprise called Freedom National Bank. It was only there for a couple of years.

    Since the early 1990s, the People’s Trust bank building has been home to a number of bargain clothing and variety stores. The current tenant, VIM, has been there for at least ten years.

    The Groundswell Community Mural Project created murals on the Herkimer Street side of the bank several years ago. The murals, depicting black culture and accomplishments, are painted over the windows that originally graced the building, which are now bricked in.

    Top photo by Suzanne Spellen

    556 Nostrand Avenue, People's Trust, Google Maps

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