History of 135 Main: “The Great Bank Heist”

On Center Street, at 135 Main, stands the Old Bank, designed by William Fenno Pratt and built in 1833. Its cast iron front was a modern innovation at the time. It was here that the largest bank robbery in the history of the United States took place on the morning of January 26, 1876. Having staked out the bank for weeks, the so-called Rufus Gang made off with more than $1.6 million in cash and securities, exceeding, by today’s standards, the Brink’s heist and the Great Train Robbery.  Equipped with the latest technology, the bank vault was thought to be impervious to thieves, but a band of seven New Yorkers had the help of the very man who had installed the safe. The Pinkerton Detective Agency eventually apprehended two of the robbers. The rest were never charged.