 The land was acquired in 1819 by George Dixon and he built a home there.In the ell of the house was an apothecary shop that sold products produced by Dedham's Wheaton & Dixon.By the 1880s, the Dedham Institution for Savings, which had been housed for 40 years in the Norfolk Mutual Fire Insurance Company at 4 Pearl Street, determined that they needed additional space and a building of their own.