Take that to the Bank Exhibit

For towns like Odessa in New Castle County in the 18th and 19th centuries, the local bank was central to the business and industrial growth of its community. In an exhibit at the Historic Odessa Foundation’s Bank Building through May 15, the public is welcome to discover bank notes and related material that illustrate aspects of banking at a small town bank.
The town of Odessa was founded in 1731 and until 1855 was known as Cantwell’s Bridge. The old bank in Odessa was built in 1853 and operated until 2000 and today is part the Historic Houses of Odessa serving as the foundation’s visitor’s center, archives and administrative offices.
The current exhibit displays artifacts of Delaware banks, and emphasizes the importance of banks and bankers in the history of Delaware. During the 19th century, 1,600 local state-chartered, private banks in the U.S. issued paper money, since the Federal Government did not. State bank notes, with more than 30,000 varieties of color and design, were easily counterfeited, and that, along with bank failures, caused confusion and circulation problems.
The exhibit includes local bank currency from the New Castle County Bank (1854-1865), currency from the New Castle County National Bank (1865-1934), bank checks and merchant’s emergency paper scrip from Odessa. Currency printing plates show an aspect of the manufacture of the old paper currency, when bankers chose their own designs.
On Tuesday, April 12, at 7 p.m., guest curator, Terry A. Bryan, DDS, will conduct a lecture on the exhibit from his collection of Delaware banking memorabilia. Dr. Bryan, a dentist in Dover, has exhibited and lectured on Delaware history topics for many organizations and clubs in the region. His publications include journal articles on Delaware history and on financial history topics. When he is not pursuing his hobbies, Dr. Bryan is a mobile geriatric dentist to nursing homes in Kent and Sussex Counties.
For more information on the exhibit Take That to the Bank: A Collection of Delaware Bank Memorabilia, or to attend the lecture on April 12, call 302-378-4119.