Business owners discover a vault to history

Business owners James and John Cain hit the historical jackpot as they were renovating an old bank to make way for a brew house in Yardley.

The Cains are leasing the 120-year-old Yardley National Bank building and turning it into the Vault Brewing Co. to open later this year. Throughout the decades, the building has functioned as a variety of banks, the last a Bank of America.

Inside an attic area above one of two vaults, the Cains found thousands of papers belonging to the original bank including the banks articles of association, certificate of organization and oath of directors, all dated Oct. 25, 1889, and other documents up to 1903.

The Yardley Historical Association doesnt have a lot of information about Yardley National Bank, so the find is a real treasure, particularly the papers concerning the formation of the bank and the ornate YNB logo, Susan Taylor, a member of the association, said this week.

Taylor believes the bank opened its doors in 1890, but doesnt know when it closed.

A few weeks ago, James Cain, 24, was scoping out the building for space to install an additional air handler, when he popped open a sealed compartment on the wall. And there they were, dusty and scattered. Some were tied with dated paper bands against the wall, but many more were loose and scattered.

It seems as someone just chucked them in there, James said.

The stacks of papers looked like bills at first, he said. After realizing that they werent bills, he continued to look for other valuables such as bond and stock certificates.

Like anyones initial reaction would have been, I thought, What did I strike? James said.

The find includes documents such as deposit slips, letters from the Treasury Department, a balance sheet of all account holders, checks, a handwritten business letter dealing with corn feed, and even a resignation letter from bank director Jesse E. Harper, who seemed to become a clerk instead.

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Business owners discover a vault to history