amarillo chamber of commerce - HPN Books

FIRSTBANKSOUTHWESTAbove: In 1919, when the town of Ochiltreeand surrounding towns literally picked upand moved to be near the new Santa FeRailroad, this bank was physically movedfrom the town of Ochiltree to Perryton,Texas, becoming First National Bankof Perryton.Below: Wolflin Banking Center on SouthGeorgia Street in Amarillo.A heritage of tenacity, wisdom, and loyaltyis the foundation of FirstBank Southwest. The104 year old bank has survived mergers,the Great Depression, ownership and namechanges, and wars. Federally chartered as TheFirst National Bank of Ochiltree at “North”Ochiltree in 1907, it merged with OchiltreeNational Bank in 1909, and consolidated withFirst State Bank in 1912. The FNB of Ochiltreebecame FNB of Perryton under a new charterin 1919 by literally moving the bank buildingfrom Ochiltree, Texas, to Perryton, Texas. Thebank remained open for business during itsseven mile move to the new town with thebank’s bookkeeper C. B. Rogers inside thebuilding the entire distance.The Ellis family became involved with theFNB of Perryton in the 1920s when Carl Ellisand his father Smith Ellis joined the board asdirectors. Strong, careful leadership duringthe 1920s by bank president F. P. Rogers andthe board of directors caused the bank toprosper and placed the bank in a solid positionto weather the Depression. When thousandsof banks failed and closed their doorsin the 1930s because of crop failures andplummeting crop prices, the FNB of Perrytonsurvived. During the Depression the officersand directors asked rancher, Carl Ellis toactively manage the bank. Ellis did not feelqualified, but after much persuasion, heexercised great personal sacrifice andagreed to take the position of president. Withhelp from experienced bankers such asC. B. Rogers and R. H. Holland he learned thebanking business and led the bank throughthe dark days of the Depression. On oneoccasion he mortgaged much of his own landto provide capital for the bank because heknew that without the bank the town wouldcease to exist.Bumper crops and a booming oil industryin the 1940s and 1950s brought expansion ofthe bank’s facilities, the addition of employeesand a new bank building completed in 1963.In the 1980s the stockholders of FNB ofPerryton authorized the formation of abank holding company named FirstPerrytonBancorp, Inc., that soon facilitated thepurchase of the First Bank and Trust Co. ofBooker. Later, in 1988, the holding companypurchased the FNB of Hereford.In the 1990s, FirstPerryton Bancorp, Inc.,acquired Citizens Bank and Trust of Pampaand expanded into Amarillo with the purchaseof Texas Commerce Bank. In 1995 allthe banks owned by the holding companywere consolidated under the original bankcharter of FNB of Perryton under the nameof FirstBank Southwest, N.A. The Amarillolocation became the main office and the banksin the outlying towns of Perryton, Hereford,and Pampa became full services branches ofAMARILLO - Faces, Places & Open Spaces240