Dauphin history

Dauphin traces its history to the opening of the Harrisburg Savings Institution in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on September 28, 1835.

Just two years after the bank opened, the country was hit with an economic crisis: the Panic of 1837, caused by overtrading and careless speculation of public lands, stock, and property.

McCormick would thereafter establish a stronger interest in Harrisburg Savings, and, although he was neither an officer nor a trustee in these early days, he would eventually become bank president in 1840.

Union forces later captured it during the famous Battle of Mobile Bay which took place 1864 under the leadership of Rear Admiral David G. Farragut.

Another son, James McCormick, Jr., took over in 1874 and retained the position into the early part of the 20th century.

Some of the first settlers to the area were Tom Whitmore, John Edwards, as well as others named Blackmore, Parr, Corie and McLaren. It was on their journey they came across the shack owned by the Neagle brothers who had come to the area in 1883 and spent time trapping.

By 1887, the first general store was built by Captain David McIntosh, who was a veteran of the North West Resistance of two years previous.

In 1888, a blacksmith shop was built by George Barker.

In 1897, to celebrate the first Ukrainian Catholic Liturgy on Canadian soil, the Ukrainian congregation of the area erected a large Cross of Freedom that represents their freedom on the land.

On July 11, 1898, Dauphin became a village and George Barker was elected as the first mayor.

In 1905, the bank was incorporated in Pennsylvania as the Dauphin Deposit Trust Company.

The roundhouse, which was built in 1906, is one of the last remaining roundhouses in all of Canada.

Another change in leadership occurred in 1908, when William K. Alricks, the founder's son-in-law, became president of the bank.

In 1912, the Canadian Northern Railway built a new train station in Dauphin to handle the growing number of settlers who were arriving from across Europe, Canada and the United States.

15, 1916, he observed German troops preparing for an attack during the Battle of the Somme and he had Canadian artillery fire on the target he provided, breaking up the German formations.

Barker would stay in a hospital clinging to life until January 1919.

Around Lake Dauphin, cottages were popping up with 35 built in 1921 alone.

Regarding their own operations as secure, McCormick and the board of directors were reportedly reluctant to comply when President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered all banks to close in 1933.

When McCormick died in 1945, leadership passed for the first time to a non-family member, Harper W. Spong.

In 1955, the completion of the bridge connecting the island to mainland led to major economic growth in the area and a greater influx of tourists.

At this site, Dauphin erected its first time-and-temperature clock in 1958.

Since 1969, we’ve developed an expertise in Ergonomics and healthy sitting through continuous research and a series of patented innovations.

Under the leadership of John D. Wickert, Dauphin Deposit reorganized in 1977, forming a holding company called the Dauphin Deposit Corporation to oversee the operations of the Dauphin Deposit Bank and Trust Company.

Moreover, in 1980 the bank signed a "new beginning" agreement in response to charges that it had not done enough for inner-city residents.

A Federal Reserve Board compilation of housing loans in the city in 1982 found that Dauphin Deposit had made 217 of the 441 loans that year.

In 1983, the Bank of Pennsylvania, based in Reading, was acquired, along with its holding company, Bancorp of Pennsylvania.

The September 1991 issue of United States Banker ranked Dauphin Deposit third among the nation's second hundred largest banking companies, based on the company's performance in relation to the average equity/asset ratio and the average return on assets.