In 1908, Monsignor Pierre Hevey, Pastor of Sainte-Marie's parish in Manchester, New Hampshire, organized what would soon be known as St. Mary's Bank, the nation's first credit union. The goal was to help the primarily Franco-American mill workers save and borrow money. On November 24, 1908 we officially opened our doors at La Caisse Populaire, Ste-Marie, or The People's Bank.

In a rent free room pictured here, in the home of Attorney Joseph Boivin, the credit union's first president, St. Mary's began operations rather modestly. Transactions were conducted during evening hours only with an all-volunteer staff, which assisted with daily activities.

Gilberte Amyot-Brosseau (June 9, 1905 - July 7, 2006), daughter of St. Mary's first president, Attorney Joseph Boivin, recalls the time when she lived in the home and describes the early years of the credit union. Listen to her memories here.

For our first five years of existence, the credit union's first president Joseph Boivin, conducted transactions in his home on Notre Dame Avenue in Manchester. St. Mary's continued to prosper, and in 1913, we moved into our first offices on 330 Notre Dame Ave. in Manchester.

In 1916, board members vote to install a private telephone in the office, hire a full time paid manager at a salary of $100 a month and expand our office hours. Effective December 4, 1916, St. Mary's Bank office was open to the public on weekdays from 10 am to 1 pm, Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 7pm to 9pm, and on Saturdays from 10 am to noon.

Our focus at St. Mary's on serving our members and the community is evidenced by our growth. In 1923, the assets at St. Mary's exceeded $1 million.

The charm and history of "The Marble Building" is seen as the center of Manchester's West Side. Built in 1930, the historic building was home to St. Mary's Bank until 1970.

Dedicated to strength and stability, we at St. Mary's guided our members through difficult economic times. When thousands of banks failed during the Great Depression, we kept our doors open. With our members' interests at heart, St. Mary's remained open during the "Bank Holiday" declared by President Roosevelt, declaring all banking institutions must close, proving we could endure through economic disruptions.

In 1934, the Federal Credit Union Act was signed into law by President Roosevelt. The act authorized the formation of federally chartered credit unions in all states. The law was signed in order to make credit available and promote thrift through a national system of nonprofit, cooperative credit unions.

St. Mary's continued to grow, and we were able to offer a variety of products and services to members. In addition to the traditional products, we also offered Christmas Club accounts, safe deposit boxes and a wider variety of loan products. By 1955, our credit union served several thousand members and increased our assets to over $6 million. This picture shows members conducting business inside the lobby of our Marble Building.

For 40 successful years, we were proud to call the "Marble Building" our home. In 1970, we began a new chapter of our history when we built and moved into our new main office on McGregor Street in Manchester.

Continuing our dedication to serving our members' needs, we at St. Mary's opened the door to our second branch located in Manchester on Elm Street in 1985.

Our third branch location opened in 1988 on the Daniel Webster Highway in Manchester.

Our first Operations Center was located in the mill yard at 200 Bedford Street in Manchester. This office was home to our operational staff. The current operations center is located at 48 Perimeter Road in Manchester.

The Call Center was established in 1995. It was initially staffed with only two employees, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Representatives assisted members with basic inquiries and research requests.

Staying true to our dedication to our members and the community, we introduced our Community Outreach Programs in 1995. Through these initiatives, St. Mary's has committed millions to aid the underserved families in our communities.

In early 1997, the former home of the nation's first credit union was accepted into the National Register of Historic Places.

The building where Attorney Boivin first conducted the business of the credit union became America's Credit Union Museum in 2002. The museum, located on Notre Dame Avenue, serves as a historical and educational site for the credit union movement.

Our fourth branch location opened in 2002 on Hanover Street in Manchester.

Ironically, the first credit union in the nation opened the first credit union in Londonderry, New Hampshire in 2004. With the addition of the Londonderry branch, St. Mary's Bank expanded to 5 branch locations.

In 2005, St. Mary's Bank announced the acquisition of Gateway Credit Union and joined forces, adding 8,000 new members to St. Mary's Bank. The acquisition added two new branch locations in Hudson and Nashua, expanding the total number of the credit union branches to seven.

St. Mary's Bank expanded into the town of Milford opening a full service retail branch. With the addition of Milford, we then had total of eight branch locations in southern New Hampshire.

The original philosophy that credit unions were "not for profit, not for charity, but for service," has prevailed through the years. The steady growth of memberships indicates consumers recognize the value of credit union membership. Since a credit union is a financial cooperative wholly and equally owned by members, a member is essentially a part owner. Whereas a credit union is not-for-profit, members benefit financially with lower loan rates and higher savings yields. In 2007, the number of credit union members exceeded 80 million, demonstrating that credit unions are gaining popularity as an alternative to traditional profit-driven financial institutions.

In 2008, we served nearly 60,000 individuals, families and businesses throughout New Hampshire. Membership is still open to everyone, just as it was in 1908. It's not just outstanding products and services that make it a financial institution like no other, but an unwavering dedication to members and community. St. Mary's Bank is the place where every member has a stake, and every voice is heard. It's the place where people work tirelessly to make dreams come true for this generation and the next. It's the place where you belong, today and tomorrow.

To honor the significant contribution that credit unions make to the financial wellbeing of the members and communities that they serve in New Hampshire, March 18, 2009 was declared New Hampshire Credit Union Day by Governor John H. Lynch.

In April of 2012, our new branch office and education center opened at 48 Perimeter Road in Manchester. The new location features our ninth retail banking office, plus a suite of conference rooms for member education and employee training. Local non-profit partners also have access to the space for meetings. A service representative, 24-hour ATM, and coin counting machine are also available.

Just in time for the busy 2012 holiday travel season, St. Mary's Bank announced the opening of two ATMs at Manchester- Boston Regional Airport. One ATM positioned on the concourse after security near Gate 11, accessible to ticketed passengers, and the other in the airport's main baggage claim area B, available to the public.

St. Mary's Bank opened a new Mortgage Center location to serve the needs of the Greater Nashua area in 2012. The center, located at 20 Trafalgar Square, provides members with a full-range of services, for convenient, ‘one-stop shopping' for all of their mortgage needs.

The new 29,000 square foot, full-service branch and headquarters, located at 200 McGregor St., continues St. Mary’s Bank’s longstanding relationship with the west side of Manchester. This modern building replaces the “Marble Building”, which was originally built in 1970 and stood at the same historic location.