Old Farmers Bank

On February 4, 1807, the General Assembly of the State of Delaware passed an act modeled after the charter of the Bank of the United States “to establish a Bank…under the name of the Farmers’ Bank of the State of Delaware.” On January 22, 1813, the General Assembly authorized the establishment of a branch in Wilmington, which opened the following July in a building that stood near this location. In 1835, the bank purchased the lot at the corner of Third and Market Streets, where it constructed a small building with a white marble façade. Beginning in 1906, the bank acquired adjacent properties and constructed the much larger existing structure, which opened in 1915. The Farmers Bank and its successors, Girard Bank and Mellon Bank, occupied the building until 1996. The Delaware State Bar Association was originally organized in 1901. For many years its offices were located in various rented spaces in Wilmington. When the State of Delaware announced its intention to move the courthouse from Rodney Square to Fifth and King Streets, the Delaware State Bar Association purchased the Old Farmers Bank Building nearby. After renovation this historic structure was occupied as the new Bar Center in October 2000.