Commercial Bank, Bristol

“Bristol’s second bank was formed in 1809. By 1820 with assets of $150,000, it was the largest of Bristol’s banking houses. The bank occupied this 2-story, 3- bay, hip-roof Federal building from 1814 until 1869. The Customs House moved here from 39 State Street in 1845 and remained here until the completion of the new Post Office and Customs House at 440 Hope Street in 1857. Later tenants included the Bristol YMCA, which rented the upper floor from 1863 to 1877, and the town clerk who had his office here in the 1870s. By 1903 the Providence Telephone Company had acquired the building for offices and altered the first floor for a cigar and candy shop. During this period the Bradford Street entrance was eliminated.” — Historical and Architectural Resources of Bristol, Rhode Island. Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission, 1990.

565-7 Hope Street, built in 1814, former home of the Commercial Bank.

Signatures of J. Frederic Baars, cashier, and Jacob Babbit, Jr., president of the Commercial Bank from the 1849 edition of the The Autographical Counterfeit Detector; Companion to the Bank Note Reporter.