The Niagara District Bank had been established on May 19th, 1855. This bank had become one of the major representations of accumulative wealth and prosperity within the Niagara Region, as well as, a major center for economic development and advanced transportation. The development of the bank had been founded by William Hamilton Merritt, James Rae Benson James Morris, John Ross and John Standfeild Macdonald (Julian, Kirk, & Phair. 2005). This had been the fourth and only successful attempt at building a bank in the Niagara Region. This bank catered to small businesses and independent micro loans (CIBC. 2016)

Merritt's career as a businessman is a very interesting aspect of his life. He had a particular genius for persuading investors to buy into his enterprises. Therefore Merritt acquired many friends in far places. He often found investors within New York, Britain and Quebec. Although there had been significant geographical distance between his projects and his stakeholders, he still had been able to effectively persuade them to capitalize. To this day it would be extremely difficult to find an individual with such capability (Burtniak & Wesley.1979).

The bank developed great success within a short period of time, in fact soon after Merritt's death in 1862, the bank had merged with the Imperial Bank of Canada. Then in 1961 the bank then again combined with the Canadian Bank of Commerce in order to establish the current Canadian Bank of Commerce (CIBC). Thomas Rodman Merritt (the son of William Hamilton Merritt) remained on original the board of directors of the Imperial (Julian, Kirk, & Phair (2005).

Today what remains there is an old empty office building that faces the highway. The location of the old bank had been built right around the corner from the Oak Hill Merritt home and right across the valley from Rodman Hall. William Hamilton Merritt liked to keep his business ventures within close proximity to himself so that he could run them first hand.

The site of the Old Niagara District Bank is located as the 5th destination on the Merritt Family Historical Tour.

Myers, G (1972). A History of Canadian Wealth. James Lorimer and Company.

Burtniak & Wesley (1979). The Welland Canals : First Annual Niagara Peninsula History Conference. St. Catharines ON. Brock University. April 21-22.

Julian, Kirk, & Phair (2005). St. Catharines: Our Built Heritage. Looking Back Press. St. Catharines Museum.

CIBC (2016) The Imperial Bank of Canada. History and Mergers. Canadian Imperial Bank of Canada.

https://www.cibc.com/ca/inside-cibc/history/merger...

Bank of Canada Museum (July 1st,1872) Niagara District Imperial Bank Currency. National Currency Collection. Image accessed 14/04/2016.

http://www.bankofcanadamuseum.ca/collection/artefa...