First National Bank of Bryan

The plaque ends in the Second World War; the bank's own history, written about 1995, adds more. It says the bank bought $10,000 of every war bond issue and sold more bonds than anyone in Brazos County. During the war it introduced night deposit boxes, reportedly the first in the nation. It was a major force in reactivating Bryan Air Force Base in 1951, sold Travis Park to the city in 1956, and leased a Burroughs B-300 computer in 1965. National bank charter 3446 was dated February 1, 1886.

What the plaque says

First National Bank of Bryan The First National Bank of Bryan traces its history to 1862 when its earliest predecessor, a private lending agency, was established by W.H. Flippen and Milton Parker in Millican. In 1867, after the Houston and Texas Central Railroad extended its line north to the new city of Bryan, Flippen bought out Parker's interest, moved to the new community, and merged his lending operation with that of Guy M. Bryan, Jr., son of the town's founder William Joel Bryan. Guy Bryan, along with partners Frank Clarke and J. W. Howell, reorganized this financial enterprise as a private bank in 1873. J. W. Fowlkes joined Clarke, Bryan, and Howell in 1886, and the institution was renamed the First National Bank of Bryan after being granted the eleventh National Bank Charter issued in Texas. The bank was housed in the Fowlkes and Ticby Building in downtown Bryan until 1919, when it moved to new facilities at 108 Main Street. Throughout its history, the First National Bank has supported community development, survived the Great Depression through careful business management and supported many activities during World War II, including an air base in Bryan. The bank moved its main facility to 2807 Texas Avenue in 1976. (1996)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum — 3.4 mi
  The library of the forty-first president on the Texas A&M campus, opened in 1997, where George and Barbara Bush and their daughter Robin are buried in a family plot on the grounds.
• Independence and Old Baylor Park — 23 mi
  A crossroads north of Brenham that was the richest town in Texas when it won Baylor University in 1845, refused the railroad, and lost the college to Waco and Belton in 1886.
• Navasota — 24 mi
  A railroad and cotton town where the La Bahia Road crossed the Navasota River, scarred by an 1865 explosion and yellow fever, and the home ground of the songster Mance Lipscomb.
• Fanthorp Inn State Historic Site — 25 mi
  A cedar-log dogtrot cabin of 1834 on the road through Anderson that grew into a seventeen-room inn and post office for travelers of the Republic, kept by one family until 1976.

More markers nearby

• Martin's Place — 0.6 mi
• The Woman's Club — 1.2 mi
• First Presbyterian Church — 1.2 mi
• Site of First Public School in Bryan — 1.8 mi