Since 1854, the year the Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank first opened for business, we have had one goal in mind: to satisfy the banking needs of the average working person..
The history of the Lowell Five is closely linked to the development of the City of Lowell. In the 1800’s the City of Lowell became a major center for the manufacture of textiles. Entrepreneurs built huge brick mills along the banks of the Merrimack River which runs through the center of the city. The river’s waters were harnessed to provide power to run the mechanical looms. Thousands of immigrants flocked to Lowell to fill the jobs in the mills. Men, women and children worked twelve hour, six day weeks for very little money.
In 1854 there were five banks in Lowell, but none of them would accept deposits of less than a $1.00, an amount far beyond the means of the average mill worker. A group of Lowell businessmen and public servants, that included Reverend Horatio Wood and Judge Nathan Crosby, concerned that the average worker had no place where they could save money and earn interest, decided to start a bank that would pay interest on deposits of as little as five cents. They obtained a charter from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to open "The Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank".
On the first day of business, June 5, 1854, some 309 people opened savings accounts. The deposits for the day ranged from five cents to $850.00 and totaled $7,026. Two hundred and fifty of the depositors were less than fifteen years old.
For over 140 years The Lowell Five has played a vital role in the economic growth and development of the Greater Lowell Community. We have financed thousands of local and suburban family homes, provided moneys for education of our children, assisted in the financing of local community projects benefiting the public interest and always played an active role in keeping our community economically strong and vital.
Through caring, conservative, intelligent management, we have survived two World Wars, and several major economic depressions, including the great depression of the 1930’s, and the more recent recession of the early 1990’s.
Today, The Lowell Five is the oldest financial institution
in the city and is still devoted to the same philosophy of providing
friendly financial services to the neighborhood people of the
Greater Lowell community and the surrounding suburbs. The Bank
has grown from that original first day deposit of $7,026 to over
four hundred million in assets and is one of the safest and best
capitalized mutual savings banks in New England. We have ten branches
in the greater Lowell area and provide an extensive menu of banking
services.
As we reach out to you through the magic of the Internet, we want
to assure you that we are still your friendly neighborhood bank,
fully committed to serving all of the financial needs of the Greater
Lowell Community.
