Midland National Bank
Midland, Midland County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Organized on August 22, 1902, in Odessa as Odessa National Bank, this institution began with an initial capital of $25, 000. Less than one year later the bank's shareholders voted to relocate to Midland and the institution became Midland National Bank. The bank set up offices in the Llano hotel building at the corner of Wall and Main Street. Early leadership for the institution was provided by such prominent people as D.W. Brunson, Andrew Fasken, and Ralph Barron. With its business largely dependent upon the cattle industry, the bank served its customers until a prolonged drought caused an economic crisis which led to its reorganization in 1923. By 1927 the oil industry had become the major business of the bank. Throughout the subsequent "boom and bust" years of the oil business, the bank has continued operations. A new three-story bank building was erected in 1953 on the corner of Texas and Big Spring, and a nine-story tower was added four years after. In a continued period of growth, the bank merged with the Bank of the Southwest in 1968. A new fourteen-story building was completed at this site in 1976. In 1983 the bank's name was changed to First City National Bank of Midland.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Chartered in Odessa in 1902 as the Odessa National Bank with just $25,000 in capital, this institution moved to Midland within a year and reinvented itself alongside the West Texas economy. It rode the cattle trade until a devastating drought forced a 1923 reorganization, then hitched itself to the oil boom that reshaped the Permian Basin from 1927 onward. Through decades of "boom and bust," mergers, and ever-taller downtown towers, the bank remained a fixture of Midland's commercial life.
Why it matters
The bank's shifting fortunes—from cattle to oil—mirror the story of West Texas itself, where fragile frontier economies were transformed by the discovery of petroleum.
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Related people
- · D.W. Brunson
- · Andrew Fasken
- · Ralph Barron
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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