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Baltimore Equitable Society/Insurance, until 2003 was located at the original headquarters of the Eutaw Savings Bank, is a historic bank building located at Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Originally built as the headquarters for the Eutaw Savings Bank, it is a two-story building with brownstone front and brick sides. It was constructed in 1857 in the Italian Renaissance style. The Eutaw Savings Bank moved across the street in 1887 to what is now the Baltimore Grand, and the building was acquired by the Baltimore Equitable Society in 1889.〔 Founded in 1794, the Baltimore Equitable Society is one of the oldest corporations in the city and the third-oldest fire insurance company in the United States.〔 Baltimore Equitable Society was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The building is occupied by a restaurant. == Fire mark == The Sign of the Clasped Hands, so frequently seen on the exterior of houses in the region, means that the home is (or was) insured by the Baltimore Equitable Society (Baltimore Equitable Insurance). The Society chose the clasped hands, depicting the hand of the company and the hand of the policy holder shaking, symbolizing the agreement by both parties to the contract of insurance. Called a “fire mark,” this sign of coverage was once just as important as the paper policy document. In Europe insurance companies owned the fire companies that fought the fires. At one time fire companies would only extinguish the fire if the home had the proper fire mark. This was never the case in the United States. Here, Benjamin Franklin established public and volunteer fire departments that responded to fire danger regardless of insurance arrangements. Still, the fire mark was a very important feature of most insurance companies of that day. The society still gives the fire mark to any person insured with Baltimore Equitable who wishes to receive it. It is numbered and painted in the traditional black with gold leaf. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Baltimore Equitable Society」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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