Historic Omaha

FIRST
NATIONAL
BANK
✧
Above: First National of Nebraska is the
leading banking organization across the
state. Its bank building in North Platte
evidences its commitment to Nebraska.
COURTESY OF AND © JEFFREY BEBEE.
Below: Bruce R. Lauritzen, chairman of
First National Bank.
Opposite, top: Pictured from left are John F.
Davis, co-chariman; John R. Lauritzen, cochairman;
and F. Phillips Giltner, president
of First National Bank, who in 1971 set the
stage for the bank and Hilton Hotels to
begin the development projects that continue
today throughout the bank’s campus.
Opposite, bottom: At forty-stories and 633
feet high, the First National Tower has
redefined the Omaha skyline. The structure
is the highlight of First National’s expansive
office and technology district
in downtown Omaha.
COURTESY OF MICHAEL KLEVETER. © JOCK POTTLE/ESTO.
HISTORIC OMAHA
146
In an industry characterized by megamergers
and ever-changing marquees, First
National Bank is proud to have a history
and a name that dates back nearly 150 years.
Built upon humble beginnings in 1857,
First National’s rise to prominence parallels
Omaha’s growth from a tiny village housing
a few hardy pioneers to a thriving metropolitan
city.
First National’s story is also the saga of
three industrious families—Kountze, Davis,
and Lauritzen—who built the company from
a small operation in a wood-frame building
near the edge of the Missouri River into a
nationwide multi-billion-dollar success story.
The bank’s well-established culture of
providing personalized customer service and
innovative quality products has garnered it a
reputation as the leading banking institution
in the region.
The First National Bank story begins in
1857 during a period known as the “wildcat
banking” era. Four young brothers from Ohio,
led by Augustus and Herman Kountze,
established a bank built on trading gold dust
and buffalo hides.
Noted Omahan and investor Edward
Creighton served as the bank’s first president.
During the nineteenth century, under the
Kountze and Creighton leadership, the bank
worked hard to enhance the city’s business and
cultural growth by supporting such projects as
the Omaha Stockyards, the Trans-Mississippi
and International Exposition of 1898, and
Creighton University. Community involvement
continues to be a guiding principle of
First National Bank’s business philosophy.
In 1914, Herman Kountze’s brother-in-law,
F. H. Davis, assumed the presidency. In 1916
First National constructed its new headquarters,
a “skyscraper” of fourteen stories
located at Sixteenth and Farnam Streets. F. H.
Davis’s son and successor, T. L. Davis,
demonstrated the innovation and foresight
typical of First National’s leadership when he
established a consumer credit corporation
during the 1930s. While other banks at that
time specialized in lending to commercial
clients, First National built a thriving business
handling auto, coal, home repair and other
installment loans for a large number of
middle-income consumers, thus creating a
lasting retail lending culture.
In the 1940s John Lauritzen joined his
brother-in-law John Davis, son of T. L. Davis,
at the company. Lauritzen was eager to build
a national business—one that would stretch
far beyond Omaha. His greatest contribution
to First National was his pioneering and
promotion of the bank’s credit card business.
Starting in 1953, this innovative product was
John’s “baby,” which grew up to become two
nationwide businesses: card issuing and
merchant processing.
Also in 1953 John Davis became the third
generation of the Davis family to serve as