First National Bank of Wills Point
Wills Point, Van Zandt County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Shortly after the arrival of the railroad caused an economic boom in the Wills Point area, a private bank was founded by John E. Owens in 1879. It was granted a Federal bank charter in 1895. Following a state and federal bank holiday in 1933, the First National Bank and the First State Bank declared a merger. Operating under the name of First National Bank, their facilities were located at North Fourth Street. For nearly fifty years the First National Bank was the primary financial institution in Wills Point. The bank assisted families in the aftermath of natural disasters, and with other financial needs its officers and staff supported a variety of community and civic organizations, and have served as members of the school board. Bank officers served as elected officials such as county judge, mayor, city treasurer and as council members. The First National Bank moved its operations to new facilities on Commerce Street in 1983. Electronic and technical improvements have been added through the years. The bank continues to meet the needs of the community as it has for more than 100 years. (1996) Incise on base: Dorothy Bateman Barnes, Research Historian
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When the railroad reached Wills Point in the late 1870s it sparked a boom, and in 1879 John E. Owens opened a private bank to serve the growing town. Federally chartered in 1895, it weathered the 1933 bank holiday by merging with a local rival and carried on as the community's primary financial institution for decades. Its officers doubled as judges, mayors, and school-board members.
Why it matters
The bank's story shows how railroads and hometown finance built and sustained small Texas towns across the Gilded Age and beyond.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · John E. Owens
- · Dorothy Bateman Barnes
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Brick Streets of Wills Point
Wills Point, TX
In the optimistic years after World War I, Wills Point formed a chamber of commerce in 1921 with one central goal: to pave its downtown streets. Voters braved a downpour to pass a bond in record numbers, and by November 1922 volunteer crews had laid brick over a concrete base, saving the town money. The new streets ushered in traffic cops, an ice plant, electric lighting, and a wave of modern conveniences.
Dixie Hotel
Canton, TX
Announced in 1915 and named for the Dixie Highway that ran past it, this Canton hotel became a regional landmark for its lodging and generous meals. Under manager Mamie Maume it thrived through the oil boom of the 1920s and 1930s, when cots on the porches handled the overflow, and its cooks drew diners from across the region. Politicians, businessmen, and travelers, including a young Lyndon B. Johnson, passed through its two dining rooms.
Texas & Pacific Railroad Freight Depot
Terrell, TX
Terrell was born in 1873 along the route of the Texas & Pacific Railroad, its land donated by local families on the condition that a depot be built here. The first frame depot rose that year and quickly grew as freight traffic swelled; this brick freight depot replaced it in 1911 during a wave of national rail expansion. It served the region's economy until closing in 1977, retaining its broad hipped roof and freight doors.
Quinlan
Quinlan, TX
Quinlan grew up around 1892 as a stop on the Texas Midland Railroad, owned by the famed Wall Street bond investor Hettie Green and run by her son Edward. Named for a railroad general manager, the town incorporated by 1896 and became a shipping point for cotton growers, boasting gins, banks, and churches before oil and the building of Lake Tawakoni reshaped its economy in the twentieth century.