MOSLER BANK SAFE
The
Auburn Historical Society has acquired the
original bank safe that was built in 1906 for the
Bank of Auburn. The time frame was one year after
the bank was organized.
In 1905 the Bank of
Auburn was organized as a stock company. At the
time it would have been seen as a rival to the G.
W. Davidson Banking Company. Dr. T. O. Helm was
the first president of the Bank of Auburn. He was
succeeded by W. W. Walters.
According to the Auburn
News on June 3, 1959: “In 1905, a second bank was
formed by a stock company and organized as the
Bank of Auburn. Its first home was a store
building on north side of Main St. owned by David
Childres and situated just below Home Furnishing
Co.’s present location.
When the building, now
occupied by P. P. Price Barber Shop was completed
in late 1905 the Bank of Auburn organization moved
to its new home and operated there until the
merger of the two banks on March 20, 1929, forming
Auburn Banking Company.”
The Bank of Auburn Mosler safe was built in
Hamilton, Ohio in 1906. The date is identified by
the number (178534) stamped on the handle.
The Mosler Safe Company was founded in Cincinnati
by Gustave Mosler as the Mosler-Bahmann Safe
Company. It outgrew its original factory and
relocated in Hamilton, Ohio in 1891 where it
remained until its 2001 bankruptcy. Some of the
best engineers were brought together for the
engineering and design of the Mosler Safes. The
name Mosler was recognized all over the United
States and the world. One of the most prominent
achievements, it will be know for, are the vaults
which were built for Fork Knox in Kentucky to
store the gold reserve once where special secure
safes were needed.
One of the Mosler vaults in a bank in Hiroshima,
including its contents survived the impact of the
atomic bomb even though the bank structure was
blasted to rubble.
This above picture of the inside of the safe
identifies it, as being manufactured for the Bank
of Auburn, by its original markings. It was
manufactured in Hamilton, Ohio.
Again review the picture of the safe in the Bank
of Auburn in the early part of the 1900s.
