Bank of Chester County, West Chester

Bank of Chester County is a historic two-story bank building located in West Chester, Chester County, Pennsylvania, the first bank to be chartered in the county. Following the failure to renew the charter of the Bank of the United States in 1811, states received responsibility over the banking systems within their jurisdiction. Although an initial proposal was rejected by the state legislature in 1813, a 41-bank proposal was passed the following year. An early bank building was utilized in West Chester beginning in 1814 at the Record Office, though the bank was relocated in 1818 to a building across the street, present-day 13 High Street. Following a proposal for a new site in 1835, a bank, to be built at 17 High Street, designed by architect Thomas Ustick Walter. It was built in 1836 in the Greek Revival style at the cost of $33,000, and features a portico with four Doric order columns; the bank was subsequently altered in 1874, 1905, and 1928. The previous building has since been rented to numerous individuals, although it still houses outdated equipment no longer used by the bank. The current building is occupied by Wells Fargo. ()