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Wiarton's Banks

As with many Canadian villages, Wiarton's first bank was a private operation (i.e. unchartered bank). Established in 1880, the G.W. Ames and Co. offered banking and insurance services from a frame building at the corner of Berford and Frank Streets.

Demand for the reliability of a chartered bank brought a branch of the Union Bank of Canada to Wiarton in 1892. The Union Bank marked its presence with the construction of a large four storey, red brick, Italianate building at the corner of Berford and William Streets. The Union Bank continued operations here until it was acquired by the Royal Bank of Canada. The Royal Bank continued to use the building until 1942. In 1946 the building was converted to office and apartment use, including a barrister. Today, it serves solely as an apartment building.

Figure W10A shows four images of the Union Bank building. The first is from around 1900, the second from the same perspective in 2003, the third highlights a new paint job in 2008 and the fourth is from 2023 where the rust is becoming apparent again on the white paint, but the corner sports new streetlights and the removal of overhead wires. Although the building still looks much the same as when it was new, close inspection shows some differences. Most notably, the front door has been moved from the south side to the north side of the front façade. I believe this was done just after the Royal Bank left the premises. Also, as with many old buildings, the original windows and doors, including the fanlights, have been filled in or replaced with smaller rectangular frames, giving the façade an odd appearance. These changes have also left the small second storey balcony no longer accessible. As an aside, the background of the top image in Figure W10A shows the steeple of St. Paul's Lutheran church. This church burned down in 1918, apparently due to arson. Also, the IGA sign visible in the distance in the 2008 picture has disappeared by 2023, in line with the grocery store's move to the former location of Wiarton Public School on Berford Street in 2016.

In 1902 Wiarton gained a third financial institution when the Bank of Commerce (which merged with the Imperial Bank in 1961 to form today's CIBC) decided to establish a branch in the town.

The Bank of Commerce first set up a temporary office in the Town Hall in August of 1902 while it constructed an imposing new structure just north of the Wiarton Echo office. Interestingly, this new building was an exact duplicate of a branch at the corner of Bathurst and King Streets in Toronto (which, I think, has since been demolished). The bank took possession of its new building in May of 1903. Incidentally, it was apparently quite an ordeal to move the bank's large safe from their temporary location at Town Hall to their new abode, but the job was done and business picked up where it had left off. In fact, the presence of a second chartered bank in Wiarton finally caused the town's pioneer financial institution, G.W. Ames & Co. to close its doors in mid-June after 23 years of operation. (Mr. Ames, however, continued to serve Wiarton's financial needs after the closure of his bank. He first offered private money for loan, and later acted as an insurance agent and an issuer of bonds and debentures until his retirement in March of 1923.)

The Bank of Commerce, on the other hand, flourished at its new location. It took extraordinary wartime conservation regulations to force its closure in 1942. Two years later, in July of 1944 the Royal Bank moved from the former Union Bank site and into the former Bank of Commerce building. The Royal Bank still occupies this building today, having survived the ever-present threat of small-town branch closures.

Figure W10B gives three images of the building, first around the time of its opening as the Bank of Commerce in 1903, then as RBC in 2004 and 2023. The building's formidable columned façade still strikes the eye more than 120 years after it was built. The main difference is new signage and the loss of the original window shutters (as well as the advancement in automobiles as seen in the street in front of the building).

In 1976, a Toronto-Dominion Bank branch also opened on Berford St. It is still in business today, giving Wiartonians a second option for their banking needs.

Postcards From the Bay was launched April 14, 2000

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