First National Bank of San Marcos

Ed J. L. Green's business reach went well past the square. He built banking ties with the First National Banks of Dallas and Houston and with Frost National Bank in San Antonio, and he helped form First National banks in Lockhart and Bastrop. In 1889 he served as third president of the Texas State Bankers' Association. He later held one term as mayor, from 1913 to 1915, and in 1900 sold the head of the river to the San Marcos Water Company. Green died at home on February 17, 1924.

What the plaque says

First National Bank of San Marcos Ed J. L. Green (1841-1924) came to San Marcos in 1859 from Arkansas. He saw the need for a bank, bought the lots on the south side of the Courthouse Square in 1878, and erected a large two-story rock building. "Green's Bank" opened May 6, 1879. He rented the extra space to lawyers, doctors and real estate agents. The "Chicago Store," a mercantile business, and later the San Marcos Phone Company occupied the building. Frank H. Malone operated the bank until Green's term as district clerk expired. Green took over as president and with 16 stockholders in 1885 received a charter for "The First National Bank of San Marcos." Green was a trustee on the board of Southwest Texas State University, mayor of San Marcos, and president of the school board. After Green retired in 1909, a three-story building was constructed on the southeast corner of the square and was occupied for 66 years. In 1975 the bank moved into its new facility on the same block. Other presidents who were instrumental in the growth of the bank during its history included: S. Woodall, Alvy L. Blair, Robert Earl McKie, Jack Harper and Bruce F. Harper. This bank is the oldest business in continuous operation in San Marcos. (1979)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Spring Lake and the Meadows Center — 0.9 mi
  The headsprings of the San Marcos River, among the longest-inhabited places in North America, once an amusement park with a swimming pig and now seen from glass-bottom boats.
• Gruene Historic District — 14 mi
  A cotton town on the Guadalupe that the boll weevil emptied, rescued in the 1970s by a kayaking architecture student, with a dance hall that says it has never closed.
• Lockhart Courthouse Square — 16 mi
  A cotton-era courthouse town named the Barbecue Capital of Texas, built near the 1840 Plum Creek fight that followed the killing of Comanche leaders at peace talks.
• Sophienburg Museum and Archives — 17 mi
  The hilltop where Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels raised the Adelsverein's headquarters in 1845, now the museum and archive of the German colony that became New Braunfels.

More markers nearby

• The Courthouses of Hays County — steps away
• William W. Moon — steps away
• Site of Hays County's First Public Building — steps away
• Founding of the First Methodist Church — steps away