First National Bank
Giddings, Lee County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Lee County's oldest banking institution. An agent for progress in this area. Founded 1891 at merger of P. M. Cuney & Co., private bank, with First National Bank of Elgin (founded in 1890 by 30 merchants and ranchers). The officers were Dr. J.A. Fields, president; Cuney, E. J. Archinard, I. J. Fariss, J. L. Rousseau, Ed R. Sinks and S. F. Wade, directors.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Formed in 1891 from the merger of a private bank with the First National Bank of Elgin, this was Lee County's oldest banking institution. Its founders were a coalition of local physicians, merchants, and ranchers who saw a bank as an engine of regional growth. In an era when frontier towns lived and died by access to credit, an established national bank signaled that Giddings had arrived as a commercial center.
Why it matters
Local banks like this one financed the farms, ranches, and businesses that turned raw Texas towns into lasting communities during the boom of the late nineteenth century.
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Related people
- · J.A. Fields
- · P.M. Cuney
Themes & tags
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