Sharon's Yesterdays & Tomorrow

An Outline of the Growth of Sharon and its Industries....

and a History of the McDowell National Bank, June 1935

History of the McDowell National Bank 

The McDowell National Bank had its inception in the private bank of D. C. Strawbridge, who began business on the first day of May, 1868, at the corner of East State Street and Walnut Avenue. The original bank building still stands.

After two years of successful operation, Mr. Strawbridge sold his banking business, in 1870, to James Bleakley, of Franklin, Pennsylvania, who changed the name of the bank to James Bleakley Sons & Company.

At that time there were associated with the bank O. D. Bleakley, the son of James Bleakley, and Alexander McDowell. At this period the history of the McDowell National Bank actually begins, as Mr. McDowell became the manager of the business.  

In 1872 Mr. McDowell purchased the business from James Bleakley, and the name of the bank was changed to “Alex McDowell, Banker.”

Soon after the change in ownership, Mr. Bleakley returned to Franklin and became associated with his father in the management of the International Bank, the name under which James Bleakley conducted a private banking business. This bank later became the Franklin Trust Company and today is a leading bank in the Franklin district.

The business of “Alex McDowell, Banker” prospered, and on June 30, 1907, a national charter was secured for  “The McDowell National Bank of Sharon, Pa.” The new National Bank purchased the interests of “Alex McDowell, Banker.”  

The McDowell National Bank was organized with a capital of $150,000 and surplus of $30,000, paid in. Since then the capital has been increased to $300,000.00, and the capital, surplus and undivided profits now stand at about $600,000.00. The total footings of the bank on March 4, 1935, mounted to $6,535,770.03. The total assets of the bank, which in 1897 amounted $291,000.00, had increased to $900,000.00 a decade later.  

On the organization of the McDowell National Bank in 1907, Alex McDowell became president, H. B. McDowell was elected cashier, and William C. McDowell was named assistant cashier. Prior to this time, J. T. McDowell, a brother of Alex McDowell, had been active in the management of the private bank, and another brother, Parker McDowell, was also associated in the business.                       

Alex McDowell died in September, 1913. He had been engaged in the banking business for 43 years. For 37 years he had been a successful private banker, and for six years he had been president of the McDowell National Bank.  

In 1913, following Mr. McDowell's death, F. W. Koehler became president, H. B. McDowell continued as cashier, and S. H. Hadley became assistant cashier.  

In 1919 H. B. McDowell became vice president, S. H. Hadley, cashier, and J. S. Bycroft was made assistant cashier. Mr. Hadley resigned in 1924 to become president of the Protected Home Circle, and Mr. Bycroft became cashier.  

In 1922 the McDowell National Bank absorbed the Sharon Savings and Trust Company and acquired the site of the McDowell National Bank’s new home at East State Street and Chestnut Avenue.  

The Sharon Savings and Trust Company had had a continuous existence under various titles for more than 50 years, beginning as the private bank of Zahniser and Heffling. It was later known as the Sharon National Bank. Since 1902 it had been known as the Sharon Savings and Trust Company. When purchased by the McDowell National Bank in 1922, the Savings and Trust Company was the oldest bank with continuous existence in Sharon.  

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