Historic Walker County

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FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF HUNTSVILLE On January 14, 1890, Gibbs National Bank—now First National Bank of Huntsville (FNBH)—opened its doors for business on the square. Prior to 1890, the Gibbs family had provided banking services to the citizens of Huntsville through the family mercantile business, which opened in 1841. Located on Cedar and Jackson Streets, now known as Eleventh Street and Sam Houston Avenue, this practice of “private banking” services largely consisted of safeguarding valuables in the store’s vault or carrying promissory notes from customers who repaid the note when their crop was harvested. General Sam Houston traded regularly in the Gibbs store, and thought so highly of Thomas Gibbs that he named him as an executor of his will. By the late 1880s, the Gibbs family acquired a national bank charter and the bank opened directly next door to the mercantile store, named in honor of Sandford Gibbs. His widow, Sallie Gibbs, was one of the founders of the bank. However, it was considered improper for a woman to lead a business, so she installed her two sons as the bank’s managers and ran the bank out of the public eye. At the time of Sallie’s Gibbs death in 1918, Gibbs National Bank was thriving and in solid condition. In 1923, recognizing its role as a community bank, the name was changed to First National Bank of Huntsville—a name that remains unchanged today. Despite the challenging economic times of the Great Depression in the 1930s, First National Bank continued as a strong community bank, priding itself on helping customers with financial services. In 1936, when the bank was remodeled, a new seven ton vault with a seven foot door was installed, along with 500 safety deposit boxes to better serve customers. In 1939, bank deposits exceeded $1 million for the first time. In 1940, First National Bank of Huntsville celebrated fifty years of banking in <strong>Walker</strong> <strong>County</strong>, and by the end of that decade, deposits exceeded $3 million. The 1950s were a booming time of change. Customers shifted from cash to check writing; every check was handled entirely by hand. By the end of the decade, the bank had outgrown its original location and for the first time since its founding seventy years earlier, built and moved to a new building on Eleventh Street in July 1962. (Currently, the location of the Huntsville Police Department.) This building had the first drive-in window whereby transactions were couriered underground in pneumatic tubes. Customers and tellers viewed each other via two-way television screens. In 1964, the bank added a Trust Department, which continues to provide Trust services today. The building that housed First National Bank of Huntsville for a little over ten years was quickly outgrown, and in 1976, the bank once again broke ground to move to its third and current location. The new six story building, located on Eleventh Street once again, opened in 1977 and provided the bank with room for future growth. The drive-thru was, then, relocated and expanded to seven lanes providing the opportunity to continue to serve customers with expanded services. 7 0 ✦ H I S T O R I C W A L K E R C O U N T Y
First National Bank of Huntsville passed several significant milestones during the 1980s. In 1981, with new technology the bank installed Huntsville’s first Automated Teller machine (ATM). The decade also saw two new banks chartered and opened by FNBH: The First National Bank–South and First Madisonville National Bank. Additionally, FNBH opened the Convenience Center—the first branch banking facility in Texas. The bank reached $100 million in assets, and also opened the Motor Park location in 1986, a drive-thru to serve commercial customers with large deposits. In 1987, the bank launched a golf tournament: The Annual Lu Ellen Gibbs Invitational, benefitting the Sam Houston State University golf program. The tournament continues today, known as The First National Bank of Huntsville Masters Challenge, with proceeds benefitting the Lu Ellen Gibbs Golf Endowment at SHSU. S h a r i n g t h e H e r i t a g e ✦ 7 1
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Thank you for your interest in this
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CONTENTS 3 CHAPTER I Native America
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❖ Above: William E. Moore found t
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Eight decades later, following a di
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❖ Cincinnati town survey. COURTES
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❖ Advertisements from The Huntsvi
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❖ Above: Sam Houston (1793-1863).
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❖ Above: “A typical Texas cotto
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I need not assure you that whenever
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❖ Above: Thomas Jewett Goree (183
Page 22 and 23: ❖ Right: Memphis Allen sat on the
Page 24 and 25: Five miles further north and east,
Page 26 and 27: ❖ Top: The Austin College Buildin
Page 28 and 29: ❖ Above: The Henry Opera House (l
Page 30 and 31: ❖ Top, left: Marcellus E. Foster
Page 32 and 33: ❖ Above: New Waverly School, earl
Page 34 and 35: ❖ Operators at the switchboard, H
Page 36 and 37: ❖ Above: Andrew Smither, Lee Cart
Page 38 and 39: ❖ Above: Men with the Civilian Co
Page 40 and 41: ❖ Above: The Sam Houston Memorial
Page 42 and 43: imprisoned at the University of San
Page 44 and 45: ❖ Top: Huntsville City Council wi
Page 46 and 47: ❖ Wendell Baker with his wife, Au
Page 48 and 49: ❖ Above: An aerial view of Sam Ho
Page 50 and 51: ❖ Above: A map of Walker County T
Page 52 and 53: ❖ Above: An inmate is pulled by a
Page 54 and 55: ❖ The Texas Prison Museum proudly
Page 56 and 57: ❖ Above: The Storybook House (for
Page 58 and 59: 27 Patricia Smith Prather and Jane
Page 60 and 61: 95 Bernadette Pruitt, Wendell Baker
Page 62 and 63: HUNTSVILLE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL Like s
Page 64 and 65: to-date with industry trends, equip
Page 66 and 67: ELKINS LAKE RECREATION CORPORATION
Page 68 and 69: COMMUNITY SERVICE CREDIT UNION ❖
Page 70 and 71: ❖ MCCAFFETY ELECTRIC CO., INC. Ab
Page 74 and 75: COMFORT SUITES- HUNTSVILLE Local re
Page 76 and 77: BETHY CREEK RESORTS For families wh
Page 78 and 79: CANDYCE FARRIS DIXON, CPA ❖ Candy
Page 80 and 81: ❖ CHARLES W. MONDAY, JR., M.D., P
Page 82 and 83: SMITHER, MARTIN, HENDERSON & BLAZEK
Page 84 and 85: SAM HOUSTON CANCER CENTER In just a
Page 86 and 87: SAM HOUSTON STATE UNIVERSITY In res
Page 88 and 89: HUNTSVILLE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTR
Page 90 and 91: For more information about the foll
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Historic Walker County

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