Early Bank Building
Crockett, Houston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
A typical late 19th Century Texas commercial building, with cast iron front and pressed tin ornamentation. Erected for bank developed in mercantile store of W.E. Mayes (1837-1915). To aid his customers, Mayes in 1880s took care of cash and currency, issued loans and credit; in 1891 sold this business to First National Bank of Crockett, which he and H.F. Moore were organizing. This structure, built 1893-94, was sold 1954 to Mary Aldrich, abstractor. Recorded Texas Historical Landmark - 1972
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This late-19th-century commercial building, with its cast-iron front and pressed-tin ornament, was built in 1893-94 for a bank that grew out of merchant W. E. Mayes's store. In the 1880s Mayes had begun handling cash, loans, and credit for his customers, and in 1891 he sold the business to the First National Bank of Crockett, which he helped organize. The building later served an abstractor after 1954.
Why it matters
It captures the moment when frontier general stores evolved into formal banks, laying the financial groundwork for growing Texas towns.
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Related people
- · W. E. Mayes
- · H. F. Moore
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
W. E. Mayes Property
Crockett, TX
An Alabama native who came to Houston County in 1856, William Elbert "Buck" Mayes returned from Civil War service to build a wide-ranging business empire in banking, real estate, construction, and retail. By 1893 he owned the three commercial buildings on this corner of East Goliad Street, which housed such enterprises as a newspaper and a theater. For decades the site anchored Crockett's downtown commercial life.
First National Bank of Crockett
Crockett, TX
Frontier banking often began informally, and so it did in Crockett: merchant W.E. Mayes kept customers' cash in his store safe and extended loans and credit as early as the 1880s. In 1892 H.F. Moore arrived from Galveston to charter the First National Bank, and Mayes moved his deposits into it. Through a later merger and a long line of presidents, the bank became a fixture of the East Texas town's commercial life.
Houston County Courthouse
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When Houston County needed a new courthouse in the late 1930s, its leaders turned to federal Public Works Administration funds to build one in 1939. Designed by a county native and raised by a Dallas contractor, the building wore the sleek Moderne lines and Art Deco detail that were the height of Depression-era fashion. It has remained the seat of county government ever since.
W.V. McConnell Building
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Crockett native William Van McConnell built this Victorian commercial building soon after buying the site in 1891 from a former mayor. Known for his wit and his Irish stories, he opened a mercantile store that grew into a business lasting until 1973. For generations the McConnell Building stood as a familiar landmark on the town square.