First National Bank

The bank opened into a small, fast-changing railroad town. Canyon City had about 530 people in 1904, a telephone exchange had been installed in 1902, and construction was booming in anticipation of further rail service. The Pecos and Northern Texas line, which arrived in 1898, had made the town a shipping point for cattle and cotton and a receiving center for coal and lumber. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the city's three banks were consolidated under the ownership of the First National Bank.

What the plaque says

First National Bank Organized Jan. 5, 1900, by L. T. Lester, S. F. Sullenberger, and 19 others. First bank in region immediately south of Amarillo. Was vital factor in developing city and county. Was involved continuously with civic programs. Lester served as chairman of the committee to secure West Texas State University. Originally, called Stockman's National Bank, prospered on its reputation of friendliness and trust. Has been in four different buildings during its existance. Presidents included L. T. Lester, T. W. Reid, Roy Wright, W. C. Black, Levi Cole, and W. E. Adams. (1968) supplemental: First National Bank was acquired by Norwest in 1994 and merged with Wells Fargo in 1999. It is housed under the name of Wells Fargo.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum — 0.7 mi
  The Panhandle's great collection, some two million objects behind a 1933 Art Deco hall carved with cattle brands, closed to the public since March 2025 over fire-safety violations.
• Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge — 11 mi
  A 1938 Depression-era lake on Tierra Blanca Creek that has gone dry, now 7,664 acres of shortgrass, cottonwood canyon and a prairie dog town on the High Plains south of Umbarger.
• Palo Duro Canyon State Park — 13 mi
  The upper end of the canyon the state bought in 1933, where CCC crews built the road to the floor and the army burned the winter camps of the Comanche, Kiowa and Cheyenne in 1874.
• TEXAS Outdoor Musical — 14 mi
  A summer pageant of Panhandle settler life staged since 1966 in the Pioneer Amphitheater, built into a basin of Palo Duro Canyon below a 600-foot cliff.

More markers nearby

• Randall County — steps away
• Smith Building (Palace Hotel) — steps away
• The Canyon News — steps away
• Clyde & Grace Warwick — steps away