Notable New Orleanians: A Tricentennial Tribute

METAIRIE BANK
Top: Founding members of Metairie Bank in
front of the first location for its grand
opening in 1947.
Below: Employees celebrating Metairie
Bank’s seventieth Anniversary at the Main
Office on Metairie Road.
Metairie Bank’s beginnings say a lot about
its history and its success over the years. From
its inception, Metairie Bank has been all about
community, and meeting the needs of
Metairie’s residents. In fact, the bank was born
in the early years after World War II, when a
group of local visionaries realized the need for
the growing community to be self-sufficient.
Prominent civic leaders from the Metairie
Road Business Association banded together to
form the first bank on the East Bank of
Jefferson Parish. The honor roll of early
founders and board members reads like a
“Who’s Who” of iconic area business leaders
Ortte, Doerr, Perlis, Pailet and Elmer. With a
foundation this rock solid, Metairie Bank was
poised for the growth and success to come.
Originally founded in 1947 as Metairie
Savings Bank and Trust with four employees,
the bank would go on to become the oldest
and largest commercial bank headquartered
on the East Bank, with seven locations there
and two more on the Northshore.
Early on the bank went about the challenges
of meeting the financial needs of a growing
Metairie, helping to finance a surging housing
sector and an expanding local business base.
The bank even had to face its own internal challenge,
when the original branch was devastated
by a fire in 1950. Undaunted, the bank
reopened for business as usual the next day.
Staying true to its original commitment of
“enriching its communities as a rock-solid
institution, while providing essential services
in a community bank atmosphere,” the bank
thrived, and expanded, experiencing a steady
succession of branch openings in 1952, 1953
and 1956.
The bank was growing. But it was not only
about adding more physical locations.
Through its board members and employees,
the bank was extending its roots deeper into
the community, forging personal relationships
with its customers, keeping an ear to the
ground, listening, and understanding its customers’
traditions, values and dreams.
The Metairie Bank story is one of steady,
stable growth—fueled by a deep commitment
to, and knowledge of, the people it serves.
In 1970, in keeping with its contemporary
mission, the bank was renamed “Metairie
Bank and Trust Company.” Today, under that
same name, the bank’s main offices stand at
3344 Metairie Road. In 2016, while other
banks were downsizing, Metairie Bank grew,
opening two new locations on Clearview
NOTABLE NEW ORLEANIANS: A Tricentennial Tribute
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