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Originally chartered on June 18, 1834, as a mutual savings institution, Gardiner Savings Institution was officially organized on June 26, 1834. Founder Robert Gardiner allowed his office on Water Street to become the bank's first location. In those days, Gardiner was a bustling port where sailboats and steamboats like the " Kennebec," which serves as the bank's logo, delivered their cargo for distribution to residents and businesses in the central region of the state. The hours Gardiner Savings Institution keeps today, which include Saturday mornings and 7 days a week at the Randolph branch, are in dramatic contrast to the one hour each week that the bank was open in 1834. Even then the bank provided convenient access for a sizeable geographic area. Account number one, opened the second week, was in the name of Edward A. Fry, …a minor, seven years of age, subject to the control of Ebenezer Fry of Vassalborough. Over the first hundred plus years, the bank's growth was modest. In fact, it wasn't until 1956 that the bank opened the doors to a new office building. Fifteen years later, the bank opened a branch in Wiscasset, followed by a branch in Richmond in 1975, and a merger with Hallowell Savings and Loan in 1978. Today, the bank has over 20 offices, more than 230 employees and over $600 million in assets, and is providing loans for homeowners and for businesses, personal and business checking and a wide variety of additional services in communities from Oakland and Waterville in the north to Boothbay, Bath and Brunswick in the south. While proudly pointing to its record of longevity as the second oldest savings bank in Maine, Gardiner Savings offers an impressive range of modern banking tools including computer, internet and telephone banking, ATM's and other conveniences. Recognizing that much of its success derives from personal contact with customers, the bank continues to provide professional, knowledgeable staff at each branch location, dedicated to treating customers fairly, every day, every month, every year… Since 1834.