Century Savings Bank Revenue and Competitors

Century Savings Bank was born in 1865, the same year the country's Civil War was brought to an end. Even though it was a time of grief throughout the nation, the war was also creating prosperity for businesses in the North. Although the City of Bridgeton, NJ, sent more young men to the Civil War in proportion to its size than any other community in the nation except Haverhill, MA, those who were left to carry on did very well. Payrolls from the Cumberland Iron and Nail Works, the glass houses, shipbuilding and a hundred smaller enterprises were at the time very high. People were able to save money and the time was right for the creation of a building and loan association in Bridgeton. On Friday evening, May 19, 1865, a group of men met at the office of A.E. Hughes to explore the possibilities of forming a building association. The decision to go ahead was unanimous. The first meeting was on June 9, 1865, and the first officers of the Bridgeton Building & Loan Association were elected. A.E. Hughes, a prominent justice of the peace, was elected president, Thomas U. Harris, secretary, and C.C. Grosscup, treasurer. Directors were Theodore G. Compton, who was a court clerk, Charles D. Burroughs, A.E. Hughes, Ebenezer D. Hall, and Benjamin F. Ware. At the first meeting, the receipts collected totaled $2,096.50. The Association continued to grow and became federally insured in 1953, and then federally chartered in 1954 under the name of Bridgeton Federal Savings and Loan Association. In 1959, the Association relocated its main office by building in the heart of Bridgeton at the intersection of Washington and Laurel Streets. In 1962, the directors of the Association entered into an agreement with Elmer Savings and Loan Association to merge the two financial institutions. They then applied to the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York to operate the Elmer office as a branch with full-time management, offering all the services that were available in the home office in Bridgeton. In 1964, the directors of the Association entered into a merger agreement with the First Federal Savings and Loan of Vineland. The Federal Home Loan Bank promptly gave permission for consolidation. The Vineland office at 7 N. 6th Street became the second branch of the Bridgeton Association in 1965 on the 100th anniversary of the institution. At the time of the merger with the Vineland organization, it was decided to change the name of the growing institution to Century Federal Savings and Loan Association to commemorate the 100 years of service to the people of Cumberland and Salem Counties. In the first century, the association had grown from its first assets of $2,096.50 to $18,182,828.40 as of June 1965. In 1967, Century Federal relocated its Vineland office to 1005 E. Landis Avenue. The new facility, designed by architects Von Uffel, Russo and Von Uffel of Haddonfield was created from the shell of the former Vineland Lutheran Church of the Redeemer. In 1972, Century Federal merged with the Paulsboro Building and Loan and opened its first office serving Gloucester County in Gibbstown. In 1981, The Association merged with the Mullica Hill Building and Loan Association and opened its second Gloucester County office in Mullica Hill. In 1989, the Association purchased the assets of Cumberland Savings and Loan. In late 1996, the Association underwent a charter conversion from a federally chartered mutual savings association to a New Jersey-chartered mutual savings bank and became Century Savings Bank. The Board of Directors and senior management believed that the reorganization was in the best interest of the bank and its members since it would allow the bank to better serve its customers. We hope you will visit and find out why we feel Century Savings Bank offers "big bank services with small bank service."