The corner of 23rd Street and Perkiomen Avenue in Mount Penn has long been a focal point of community life, with a layered history stretching back more than two centuries. One of the earliest known structures at the site was the White Bear Hotel, built by 1800 or earlier. This stone tavern served as a vital rest stop for travelers making their way along the Perkiomen Pike, offering food, drink, and lodging at the base of the hill once known as Mount Washington. The hotel remained in operation throughout the 19th century and eventually became known as Dengler’s Hotel after its purchase in 1940 by George Dengler, a name that would come to be associated not only with the building but with the surrounding settlement itself.
Below: The old White Bear Hotel stood at 23rd & Perkiomen Ave. Bought by George Dengler in 1940, it later became home to Mount Penn Trust Co.
A major transformation occurred in the early 20th century with the formation of the Mount Penn Trust Company. At a public meeting held on November 11, 1920, local pastor Rev. James R. Brown proposed the establishment of a community bank to serve the growing borough. With broad support from residents, shares were sold, officers were elected, and the bank officially opened on June 18, 1921, operating out of the former Dengler’s Hotel. Though still recognizable as a former inn, the building underwent substantial renovations in 1928 and again in 1936, adapting the structure for its new financial role. The Mount Penn Trust Company quickly became a fixture in the community and even pioneered innovation—in 1949, it introduced the first automobile drive-in banking window in Eastern Pennsylvania, a novelty that drew attention throughout the region.
Below: Mount Penn Trust Co. at 23rd & Perkiomen Ave, late 1920s—looking toward what was once called Mount Washington.
A brochure from 1952 proudly proclaimed the facility “The Bank with the Drive-in Window,” showing off the modernized side façade with its automobile service lane. By 1954, the original hotel structure was completely replaced with a new, purpose-built bank facility, further solidifying the site’s shift from tavern to financial center. Over the decades that followed, the bank underwent multiple mergers and rebrandings, transitioning from Mount Penn Trust to Berks County Trust, American Bank, Meridian, and eventually Wachovia…