Mason National Bank

The 1918 renaming came in a hard year for German Mason County. Germans still made up 70 to 80 percent of the county's foreign-born residents, many kept ties to Germany, and some who had come as children and never become citizens faced government investigations. Hostility to things German weakened the language, and on October 3, 1918, the Mason County Council of Defense resolved to abandon the use of German in the county. The war also cut off foreign manganese and set off a boom in domestic manganese, and a bat cave southwest of town supplied guano for nitrates.

What the plaque says

Mason National Bank Throughout the 1890s, private banking institutions sporadically served Mason residents. In December 1903, several pioneer settlers met to form a new bank. It received its authorization in January 1904 as the German American National Bank of Mason. John Lemburg, Sr. served as the first president, J.W. White as vice-president and F.W. Lemburg as cashier. During the bank's first 100 years, six other men would serve as president, including J.W. White, who served two different terms. Anti-German sentiment during the First World War caused the bank board to change the bank's name in 1918 to Mason National Bank. The institution led the community in purchasing Liberty Bonds during the war. In 1932, amid the Great Depression, the First State Bank of Mason merged into the Mason National Bank. J.D. Eckert, formerly of First State Bank, became president. That same year, the bank received certification by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. In 1934, Eckert retired, and White resumed the position of president until his death in 1939. D.F. Lehmberg followed him in the office, remaining until his death in 1953. Following Lehmberg's death, Wilburn "Bill" Lemburg (d. 1972), grandson of John Lemburg, Sr., became the bank's president. Under his leadership, the bank moved in 1968 from the north side of the town square to the present location, previously the site of his grandfather's house. Throughout its history, the bank's leaders have been active in local organizations. Mason National Bank is well-known and respected for its generous support of community programs. (2004)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Mason — steps away
  A reconstructed officers' quarters on Post Oak Hill above Mason, standing where the army's stone fort was taken apart by the town that grew up below it.
• Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve — 14 mi
  A limestone cave on the James River where about four million Mexican free-tailed bats raise their young each summer, kept open to visitors by a family's gift.
• Enchanted Rock State Natural Area — 30 mi
  A dome of pink granite north of Fredericksburg that rises some 385 feet above Sandy Creek, creaks as it cools at night, and has drawn people for thousands of years.

More markers nearby

• Fort Mason and Camp Llano, C.S.A. — steps away
• R. Grosse and Sons — steps away
• Hofmann Dry Goods Company — steps away
• The Commercial Bank — steps away