First National Bank of Weatherford
Weatherford, Parker County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Founded in 1880, this is the fifth oldest federally chartered bank operating in Texas. It was started under the direction of Samuel H. Milliken (1846-1931), a Parker County industrialist and civic leader and a founder of the railway company that completed the first lines to Weatherford. Walter S. Fant, who worked here for 54 years, and other bankers maintained a sense of community dedication. For over 100 years the First National Bank has led in the development of the city from the days of frontier Indian raids to the current era of industrial and agricultural growth. (1981)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Chartered in 1880, this is among the oldest federally chartered banks still operating in Texas, begun under Parker County industrialist Samuel H. Milliken, who also helped bring the first railroads to Weatherford. Longtime banker Walter S. Fant worked here for 54 years. The institution helped carry the town from the era of frontier raids into an age of industry and agriculture.
Why it matters
It traces the transformation of a North Texas frontier settlement into a modern commercial center through more than a century of local banking.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Samuel H. Milliken
- · Walter S. Fant
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Franco-Texan Land Company Building
Weatherford, TX
Built around 1870, this two-story brick storefront was the beating heart of Weatherford's money and politics as the frontier gave way to the railroad age. It housed the first bank west of Dallas, opened by cattle-fortune banker James Couts, and later the law offices of Samuel Willis Tucker Lanham, who would become governor of Texas. In the 1890s it served the troubled Franco-Texan Land Company, which speculated on the vast stretch of country the Texas and Pacific Railway opened between Weatherford and El Paso.
Parsons Station
Weatherford, TX
Parsons was a ranching hamlet that coalesced in 1854 around Amsley Parsons's homestead and boomed once the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe pushed its Weatherford-to-Cleburne line through in the 1880s. With cattle pens, a switching station, and telegraph, Western Union, and Wells Fargo offices, it was a vital shipping point where ranchers loaded livestock onto the cattle train locals nicknamed 'Old Nancy.' The 1931 arrival of State Highway 171 siphoned off the rail traffic, and the community faded until only scattered relics remained.
Weatherford, Mineral Wells and Northwestern Railway
Cool, TX
When the Texas & Pacific reached Weatherford in 1888 but turned south to skirt the Palo Pinto Hills, the booming resort town of Mineral Wells was left without a rail link. Led by W.A. Stone, backers chartered the Weatherford, Mineral Wells & Northwestern Railway in 1889, and on New Year's Day 1891 the first train steamed into Mineral Wells to a cheering crowd. At its height the line carried some 33,000 passengers a year to the mineral-water resort before highways, and finally 1992, ended its run.
First Plant of Acme Brick Co.
Millsap, TX
Built in 1891 by George Bennett beside rich shale deposits near the Brazos River, this was one of the earliest brick factories in North Texas. Its kilns burned locally mined coal, then wood, then gas, and mule-drawn wagons and the Texas & Pacific Railway carried its brick to market. By its 75th anniversary in 1966, Acme Brick had grown into the largest maker of face brick in the United States.