Mills County State Bank
Goldthwaite, Mills County, Texas
Marker Inscription
MILLS COUNTY EXPERIENCED MUCH GROWTH FROM 1887 TO 1917 AFTER THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GULF, COLORADO, AND SANTA FE RAILWAY IN THE REGION. AS GOLDTHWAITE BECAME THE COUNTY SEAT AND CENTER, LOCALS SAW THE NEED FOR A BANK. ON JUNE 4, 1888, D.H. TRENT OPENED A PRIVATE BANK ON THE EAST CORNER OF FISHER AT 4TH STREETS WITH DEPOSITS OF $4,168.61 AND STOCK ACCOUNT OF $11,449.50. FOUR YEARS LATER, FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF GOLDTHWAITE WAS ORGANIZED WITH W.E. MILLER AS PRESIDENT. THE STOCKHOLDERS OF THE BANK VOTED TO LIQUIDATE IN 1901, AND THE BUILDING ALONG WITH THE FURNITURE WAS SOLD TO TRENT. IN 1908, CHARTER NO. 369 WAS GRANTED AT THE FIRST MEETING OF THE STOCKHOLDERS OF TRENT STATE BANK UNDER WHICH THE BANK OPERATES TODAY. TRENT STATE BANK WAS LOCATED ON THE WEST CORNER OF THE SAME INTERSECTION OF FISHER AT 4TH STREETS. DIRECTORS VOTED ON JANUARY 29, 1952 TO CHANGE THE NAME TO MILLS COUNTY STATE BANK. IN 1960, THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS MADE PLANS FOR THE BUILDING OF MODERN BANKING QUARTERS. THE NEW FACILITIES, WHICH INCLUDED A DRIVE THRU LANE, WERE CONSTRUCTED AT 1017 PARKER STREET. ON OCTOBER 10, 2008, STAFF, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, STOCKHOLDERS, MANY BANKING DIGNITARIES, FRIENDS AND CUSTOMERS OF THE BANK ATTENDED A CELEBRATION AT MILLS COUNTY STATE BANK THAT MARKED 120 YEARS IN BANKING AND 100 YEARS AS A STATE CHARTERED BANK. OVER THE YEARS, THE BANK HAS EXPANDED, MODERNIZED, AND OPENED OTHER OFFICES IN BROWNWOOD, EARLY, AND HAMILTON. IT IS COMMENDED FOR ITS PERSEVERANCE THROUGH DIFFICULT TIMES AND IS CONSIDERED A LOYAL ADVOCATE OF THE COMMUNITIES IT SERVES.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Goldthwaite boomed after the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railway reached Mills County, and by 1888 the growing county seat needed a bank—so D.H. Trent opened a private one with a few thousand dollars in deposits. Through decades of reorganization it became the state-chartered Trent State Bank in 1908 and, in 1952, the Mills County State Bank. It marked 120 years in business in 2008, having weathered hard times and expanded into neighboring towns.
Why it matters
The bank's long life mirrors how the railroads seeded county-seat towns across Texas and how local banks underwrote the farm economies that grew up around them.
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Related people
- · D.H. Trent
- · W.E. Miller
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Dam and Well
Goldthwaite, TX
When the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad reached the area in 1885, its officials laid out the town of Goldthwaite and built a reservoir to water their steam locomotives. A 25-foot dam impounded several springs into a pond that doubled as a favorite swimming hole, and in 1906 the railroad drilled a deep spring-fed well for still more water. By 1915 the sources fell short and the dam was breached; today those same springs feed a stream through the county park and the old well still serves the city.
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Scholten Railroad
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