The old Mercantile-Safe Deposit and Trust Co. earned a reputation as a no-nonsense, independent, conservative bank.

The old Mercantile-Safe Deposit and Trust Co. earned a reputation as a no-nonsense, independent, conservative bank, and for all the years, this place kept me out of red ink.Its trust department managed the unseen, dusty but abundantly green fortunes of ancient Baltimore. The Mercantile vaults held silver heirlooms for families off to Bar Harbor in…