Bank Branches › Closed and merged banks › Massachusetts › USTrust/Essex
What happened to USTrust/Essex?
USTrust/Essex in Gloucester, MA (earlier called Gloucester National Bank of Gloucester and 1 other name) merged into USTrust/Middlesex of Cambridge, MA on Sep 30, 1988. After 3 more changes of hands, what was USTrust/Essex is today part of Citizens Bank, National Association (Providence, RI).
The chain, step by step
From the day it opened to the bank at the end of the chain today. Each step is one entry in the FDIC's record.
- 1796Gloucester National Bank of Gloucester opens in Gloucester, MA
- Oct 15, 1985renamed USTrust/Essex National Association
- Aug 29, 1986renamed USTrust/Essex
- Sep 30, 1988MERGEDUSTrust/Essex merged into USTrust/Middlesex of Cambridge, MA.FDIC certificate 2585 ends; its business continues under certificate 19597.
- Aug 10, 1990MERGEDUSTrust/Middlesex (by then renamed USTrust) of Cambridge, MA merged into USTrust/Norfolk of Boston, MA.FDIC certificate 19597 ends; its business continues under certificate 17971.
- Jan 11, 2000MERGEDUSTrust/Norfolk (by then renamed USTrust) of Boston, MA merged into Citizens Bank of Massachusetts of Boston, MA.FDIC certificate 17971 ends; its business continues under certificate 18562.
- Sep 1, 2007MERGEDCitizens Bank of Massachusetts of Boston, MA merged into RBS Citizens, National Association of Providence, RI.FDIC certificate 18562 ends; its business continues under certificate 57957.
- TodayOPEN
Citizens Bank, National AssociationMain office Providence, RI · FDIC certificate 57957 · 971 offices in 16 states on June 30, 2026Every Citizens Bank, National Association office → Website on file with the FDIC: www.citizensbank.com
If you still have something from USTrust/Essex
A lien that was never released
If a paid-off mortgage, home-equity line or car loan still shows USTrust/Essex as lienholder, start with Citizens Bank, National Association. In a merger the surviving bank takes over the other bank's loans, so it is the bank to ask for a recordable lien release; if the loan was sold along the way, it can tell you to whom.
The FDIC says it cannot process lien releases for banks that merged or were acquired without government assistance, which is what the record shows here.
Record the release with the same county office that recorded the original mortgage or deed of trust.
An old account, passbook or CD
Ask Citizens Bank, National Association to search for the account under the name USTrust/Essex. A passbook or certificate shows an account existed. It doesn't show the money is still there, and the OCC notes that federal rules require banks to keep most account records for five years.
Accounts nobody touches are eventually turned over to a state. The OCC puts the usual wait at three to five years with no activity, set by each state's law. Search the unclaimed-property program of the state of the owner's last known address on the bank's records, and any other state they lived in. It is free to search and to claim through a state's own site, and MissingMoney.com, an official site of the state administrators' association, searches most states at once.
A safe deposit box
Ask Citizens Bank, National Association which branch now holds boxes from the USTrust/Essex office you used. The OCC says a box with no activity for three to five years (the period is set by state statute) is likely treated as dormant, and its contents may be turned over to the state's unclaimed-property program.
Box contents are not covered by FDIC insurance.
Not sure this is your bank?
Many banks shared a name. Match the city and the years above against your paperwork, or search again with the town.
Credit unions were never FDIC-insured and are not in this record; the NCUA credit union lookup covers those. Banks that closed before about 1970 are not in the FDIC's list either.
One caution: banks also sell single branches. If the office you used was sold to a different bank along the way, the account went with the branch, not with this chain.
This page is drawn from FDIC records and federal guidance. It is not legal advice, and BankBranches is not a bank or a government office. More detail: lien releases · old passbooks and CDs · safe deposit boxes · unclaimed money.
Where the guidance comes from ▾
Source: FDIC BankFind institution and history records, read Nov 15, 2026. The FDIC's list covers banks that ended in about 1970 or later. Look up certificate 2585 in the FDIC BankFind Suite to see the government's own entry. Corrections: me@byclaude.net.