Small-town Litchfield bank going strong after 165 years

LAKEVILLE — Litchfield Bancorp celebrates its 165th anniversary this year.

On July 23, 1850, one Thomas L. Saltonstall deposited $200 in the first account with what was then called the Litchfield Savings Society.

Thomas J. Villanova, current president and CEO of Litchfield Bancorp, said in a phone interview on Friday, Aug. 21, that “savings society” was a common name for banks in the 19th century.

In fact, Litchfield Bancorp is part of a three-bank holding company, along with Northwest Community Bank (main branch in Winsted) and the Collinsville Savings Society (in Collinsville and Canton).

On the back of the pass book was what would today be called a “mission statement”: “The Litchfield Savings Society is formed for the purpose of affording secure investment to persons of either sex, when circumstances do not afford them the facilities of safely putting their income to use, or of investing it in business.”

The bank has changed names twice since 1850. In 1963 it became the Litchfield Savings Bank; 1984 brought the more contemporary and corporate-sounding Litchfield Bancorp.

The bank moved from its original location on North Street in Litchfield to the current address on West Street in 1965. The Washington Depot office opened in 1954 and moved to its present location in 1959.

The Torrington office opened in 1996 and moved to East Main Street in 1998; the Watertown branch started in Oakville in 1998 and moved to Watertown in 2013.

The Lakeville branch opened on 1972 in the Valentine Building on North Main Street and moved to 326 Main St. in 1974, in the former home of Dr. William Bissell.

In 1872 Bissell purchased from William Pettee the corner house lot on Main Street at the intersection of Pettee Street, and the new house was completed in 1873. It served as Bissell’s home and office. The bank purchased the home in 1974 after it had fallen into disrepair.

Unlike Salisbury Bank and Trust, which has stockholders, Litchfield Bancorp is a mutual bank.

Villanova said there are probably 1,000 to 1,500 mutual banks still in business, concentrated in New England and the Midwest.

He said being a mutual bank gives added flexibility. “We don’t answer to stockholders, but to a board of directors.”

The directors are, typically, well-established members of the community, he added.

“Our customer base is our deposit base.”

Which means, in turn, that the bank is well acquainted with a deposit customer seeking a loan.

Susan Dickinson, the branch manager in Lakeville, said the bank has a first-time home buyer program. The bank will help a customer looking to buy a first home in evaluating credit rating and income, and in applying for federal grants to help with a down payment.

She said people come in believing their credit history might disqualify them from getting a mortgage, only to find the bank can help.

“We know them, and if their credit isn’t great, there might be a good reason — they were out of work for a couple of years, maybe.”

Litchfield Bancorp also works with housing nonprofits, such as the Salisbury and Litchfield Housing Trusts and Habitat for Humanity.

Asked if the bank will make it to a 200th anniversary, Villanova was bullish.

He said the holding company arrangement with Northwest Community and Collinsville Savings allows all three banks to keep overhead costs down by sharing “backroom services.”

“We did this 14 years ago,” he said.

He said the bank has solid existing markets, and the Watertown branch has expanded significantly.

The strategic plan is to expand on the existing business — not to expand physically by adding branches or buying up other banks.

In fact, when other banks consolidate, “that creates opportunities for us.”