Historic Laredo

LAREDO
NATIONAL
BANK
The Laredo National Bank was founded on
February 23, 1892, in a small, one-story building
on Flores Street. Laredo was small, with a
population of only some 12,000, with 3,000
citizens in its sister city, Nuevo Laredo,
Mexico.
Founders of the bank, John King Beretta,
T. C. Frost, Joseph Deutz, A. W. Wilcox,
Dario Sanchez, Thomas Caden, Raymond
Martin, Fred Lithgow, Joseph Armengol, Andres
Bertani, Porfirio Benavides, Joseph Christen, M.
A. Hirsch, Edwin Atlee, and Louis Goodman,
parlayed their financial expertise and the area’s
potential into a thriving concern. After the first
three years of operation, they applied for and
were granted National Charter #5001 and were
permitted to use the name The Laredo National
Bank. The small, growing bank was capitalized
for $100,000 with the issuance of 1,000 shares
of stock.
Over 100 years later, The Laredo National
Bank (LNB) has forever changed the skyline and
business climate of Laredo. This dynamic bank
has served under the leadership of only seven
presidents: Joseph Deutz (1895-1903), John K.
Beretta (1903-1923), Isaac Alexander (1923-
1938), Payne Briscoe (1939-1955), Max A.
Mandel (1955-1967), Ramiro Sanchez (1967-
1973), and current President and Chief
Executive Officer Gary G. Jacobs, who assumed
leadership in 1973.
Founded before the Federal Reserve System
existed, LNB has served the personal and business
banking needs of Laredo’s binational community
with extraordinary results. The arrival
of the railroads to Laredo in 1881 created
explosive growth with LNB playing an important
role in driving the turn-of-the-century
economy. Rail transportation allowed Laredo
produce growers to get their agricultural products
to large markets in the northern states.
Laredo’s stature as an international port
increased with World War I, when trade
with Mexico expanded. Oil production in
northern Mexico and in the Laredo area spurred
greater shipping activity.
During the depression of the 1930s, LNB
served as the depository for U.S. Treasury
funds for the unemployed, issuing 3,000
weekly checks. LNB’s conservative business
philosophy and sound banking principals
spared the bank the closures seen across the
nation. Presidential executive order created
a bank moratorium in March 1933, permanently
closing three of Laredo’s five banks.
LNB was the only Laredo bank not ordered to
close permanently or to reorganize—a tribute
to its conservative management practices and
fiscal strength.
Laredo became the “Gateway to Mexico”
with the 1936 completion of the Pan-
American Highway to Mexico City. World
✧
Laredo National Bank in 1958. This
building is still serving LNB customers
in downtown Laredo.
78 ✦ HISTORIC LAREDO