Main Street Architecture: "The Bank that Loomed Large"

... On the granite facade of the building at 139 Main Street are two panels in carved relief depicting a man's arm holding a hammer. The arm and hammer were to be symbolic of the strength of the financial institution located within, as well as representative of the corporation's name--the Mechanics Savings Bank.

The building was constructed by the James Forrestal Company in 1929, and opened for business on February 1, 1930. The architect was A. Stanley Miller whose admitted purpose in designing the bank's unique front was to make it stand out as the most imposing building on Main Street. The facade is of polished and hammered faced granite quarried at Ausable Forks, New York. The main entrance featured a heavy bronze grill fitted with a swinging gate and hanging bronze lantern. Going inside, the visitor beheld a "sight of grandeur" (the architect's words)--the walls and floors were of Green Mountain marble and paneled walnut. The interior decoration exuded an air of opulence and stability, a milieu somewhat misleading for the economic reality of the times--the start of the Great Depression.

The name carved in bold lettering on the granite cornice would hold true only for five years, In the spring of 1935, the Matteawan Savings Bank and Mechanics Savings Bank merged to become the Beacon Savings Bank. In 1956, The Beacon Savings moved out of 139 Main to its new home at 364 Main Street. Around that time the Star of Bethlehem Church, then located at 22 North Cedar Street, made the bold move to relocate to the now empty 139 Main, thus becoming the only church within a bank in Beacon.

Mechanics Savings Bank Today