Category:Lehigh Valley Trust Company

The Lehigh Valley Trust Company was founded on July 14th, 1886 at 636 Hamilton Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania with initial capital of $250,000. It initially purchaced the property at 636 Hamilton Street, which had been previously occupied by the First National Bank (no relationship to the 20th century bank). This was used until the erection of a new bank at 634 Hamilton Street in 1909.

In 1911, a total reconstruction began with the consolidation of two buildings at 634 and 636 Hamilton Street. The finished building is considered one of the most architecturally beautiful buildings in Allentown due to its use of Vermont White Marble. The building is iconic in archtecture with four fluted columns supporting a marble cornice and gable. The interior of the building was primarily illuminated by a large skylight of leaded glass. The Damon Safe, manufactured in Boston, Massachusetts and part of the original 1886 building, remains a fixture of the new building. Three vaults, manufactured by the York Safe and Lock Co. located in York, Pennsylvania, are delivered to the building by way of ten-horse team and carriage in 1912.

Lehigh Valley Trust Company prospered well for many decades in 20th-Century Allentown, initially offering home mortgatges and later demand accounts (checking and savings) to customers. It became the third-largest financial instution in the city, behind the Allentown National Bank and the Merchants National Bank. Many Allentonians purchaced homes though mortgages issued by Lehigh Valley Trust, as well as commercial property. Later, when Trust Companies were allowed to provide checking and saving services in 1908, the bank grew more by offering those services. During the Great Depression of 1932, the Allentown Trust Company, the Jordan State Bank and the Ridge Avenue Deposit and Trust Company failed due to the growing depression. In March, 1933. the Lehigh Valley Trust Company was assigned to take over the savings and checking accounts of the Dime Savings and Trust, along with the Liberty Trust Company to preserve the depositors accounts. The failed banks depositors accounts were eventually paid out by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, however that took several years to satisfy all of the accounts. In 1934, the Lehigh Valley Trust Company opened new branches throughout the Lehigh Valley. In addition to their building on 634 Hamilton Street and Seventh and Tilghman Streets after World War II Lehigh Valley Trust added branches at the Allentown Fairgrounds (Seventeenth and Chew Streets) and in the Lehigh Shopping Center on Union Boulevard in Bethlehem.

The first major change to the bank happened in 1968 when LVT consolidated with the Jenkintown Bank and changes its name to “Industrial Valley Bank”. In August 1985, Industrial Valley Bank (IVB) and Fideltiy Bank (Fidelcor) of Philadelphia agreed to merge. Under the agreement, Fieldcor acquired all of the IVB assets, although they remained open under the IVB name. In September 1986, it was announced that the Fidelity name would replace IVB and the changeover was completed by the end of the year. In Feburary 1987, it was announced that the former Lehigh Valley Trust/IVB banks at 634-636 Hamilton Mall, 7th and Tilghman and the Fairgrounds (17th and Chew) would be closed. The 7th and Tilghman and Fairgrounds banks would be sold to the Merchants National Bank. The fate of the Hamilton Mall bank was undetermined. The property was later sold to developers Siegfried and Klara Braun of Flemington, NJ in June 1988.

The Brauns then attempted to start a new bank, the Allentown National Bank, in June 1990. Braun began a restoration of the properety, with tapestries being draped along the sides of the interior are modeled after Edwardian ornaments and were woven in Belgium specifically for the Trust Building. Behind each of the eight tapestries was a mural of the Lehigh valley’s most prominent companies: Pennsylvania Power and light, Air Products, Mack Trucks, Lehigh Structural Steel, Western Electric, Lehigh Cement, Finance America and Bethlehem Steel. It was renamed as the "Braun Building", however those plans fell through and the property was eventually sold at a Sheriff's sale. It was donated to the Downtown Improvement District Authority (DIDA) of Allentown in 1995, and used sporatically for various events, however the building was basically unused for many years.

Mark W. Jaindl purchaced the Building in 2014 and renovated the interior of the building. It was later renamed as Vault 634, and is currently used as a wedding and event venue.