Bank of Menard, 1903
Menard, Menard County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Built of native stone for settlers then keeping money in merchants' safes or riding 60 robber-infested miles to do banking. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1964.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built of native stone in 1903, the Bank of Menard answered a real frontier problem: settlers had been keeping their cash in merchants' safes or riding sixty robber-plagued miles to do their banking. A local bank of solid rock signaled that this remote West Texas town had arrived. It stands as a monument to the moment financial institutions caught up with the settlement of the frontier.
Why it matters
It captures the arrival of stable banking on the Texas frontier, a quiet but decisive step in turning a dangerous outpost into a settled community.
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Themes & tags
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