First National Bank of Beeville
Beeville, Bee County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Beeville, the county seat of the Bee County since 1860, did not have a secure bank until 1890, when the First National Bank of Beeville opened for business. Prior to that year, the town's only banking facility was A.C. Jones' general store, where some area residents stored money under a loose floorboard behind the counter. The increases in population and trade volume brought by the arrival of the San Antonio & Aransas Pass and the Gulf, Western Texas & Pacific Railways in the late 1880s made the establishment of a bank necessary. In December of 1889 thirty investors met and organized the First National Bank of Beeville and elected A.C. Jones, Louis B. Randall, B.W. Klipstein, J.H. O'Connor, Viggo Kohler, J.C. Wood and J.R. Hoxie to the first board of directors. The First National Bank of Beeville operated on the courthouse square until 1894, when it relocated to the vicinty of the railroad depot. Functioning at that site for 66 years, the bank moved in 1960 and again in 1984 to be near major auto routes. It is one of the few banks in South Texas to have been independent and locally owned and operated for one hundred years. (1992)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Before 1890, Beeville's only banking option was A.C. Jones' general store, where some residents stashed cash under a loose floorboard behind the counter. The arrival of two railroads in the late 1880s swelled population and trade until a real bank became a necessity, and in 1889 thirty investors organized the First National Bank of Beeville. It opened in 1890 and remained independent and locally owned for a full century.
Why it matters
The bank's founding shows how railroads transformed South Texas cow towns into commercial centers, replacing floorboard savings with formal finance.
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Related people
- · A.C. Jones
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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