American National Bank/First NB, Longmont, CO (Charter 11253)
American National Bank/First NB, Longmont, CO (Chartered 1918 - Closed (Merger) 2005)
Town History
Longmont is a home rule municipality located in Boulder and Weld counties, Colorado. Its population was 98,885 as of the 2020 U.S. Census. Longmont is located northeast of the county seat of Boulder. Longmont is named after Longs Peak, a prominent mountain named for explorer Stephen H. Long that is clearly visible from Longmont, and "mont", from the French word "montagne" for mountain.
Longmont was founded in 1871 by a group of people from Chicago, Illinois. Originally called the Chicago-Colorado Colony, led by president Robert Collyer, the men sold memberships in the town, purchasing the land necessary for the town hall with the proceeds. As the first planned community in Boulder County, the city streets were laid out in a grid plan within a square mile. The city began to flourish as an agricultural community after the Colorado Central Railroad line arrived northward from Boulder in 1877. During the 1940s, Longmont began to grow beyond these original limits.
In 1925, the Ku Klux Klan gained control of Longmont's City Council in an election. They began construction of a large pork-barrel project, Chimney Rock Dam, above Lyons and marched up and down Main Street in their costumes. In the 1927 election they were voted out of office, and their influence soon declined. Work on Chimney Rock Dam was abandoned as unfeasible, and its foundations are still visible in the St. Vrain River.
In 1955, United Airlines Flight 629 exploded over Longmont, killing 44 passengers and crew.
During the 1960s, the federal government built the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center in Longmont, and IBM built a manufacturing and development campus near Longmont. Longmont Foods was a turkey processor that once supplied turkey products throughout the United States. For example, turkey hot dogs with the Longmont Foods label were sold throughout the US. In 1950 they constructed a large plant on southern Main St. that received trucks full of live turkeys. The company was eventually purchased by Butterball and then closed 2011. As agriculture waned, more high technology has come to the city, including companies like Seagate and Amgen; Amgen closed its Longmont campus in 2015. In April 2009, the GE Energy Company relocated its control solutions business to the area.
T.M. Callahan House, also known as the "Sweeny-Callahan House", at 312 Terry St. in Longmont, is a large Queen Anne-style house built in 1892. It was deemed significant as "one of Longmont's most distinguished houses" and for its association with James Koller Sweeny, its first owner and a banker and flour mill manager. Its association with Thomas M. Callahan, founder of Golden Rule Stores is more significant however. Callahan lived in and had an office in the house from 1897 until 1938. A younger partner of Callahan, eventually, was James Cash Penney, who learned from Callahan and from Guy Johnson and went on to buy them out of their stores in Wyoming and to establish the J.C. Penney Company. J.C. Penney Co. Golden Rule Stores changed its name to J.C. Penney Co. in 1918.[1] During his years in Longmont, Callahan was very active in local civic affairs and fraternal organizations. He served as an officer and/or director of several local banks and was involved in the formation of the Arbuckle Ditch Company, which remains an important water source for Longmont and the surrounding farm community. In 1938 Callahan and his wife moved to Reno, Nevada, at which time they donated their house to the City of Longmont for exclusive use by women's groups and clubs for meetings and special events. The Mutual Improvement Club, founded in 1892 as one of Longmont's first social clubs, holds meetings in the house. Men are seldom allowed in the house and alcohol is prohibited according to the stipulations of Callahan’s gift.
Longmont had four National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, First National Bank, Longmont, (Charter 3354), Farmers National Bank, Longmont, (Charter 4653), Longmont National Bank (Charter 7839) and the American National Bank/First NB, Longmont, (Charter 11253), and all four of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized September 21, 1918
- Chartered September 28, 1918
- Conversion of The Emerson & Buckingham Bank & Trust Company, Longmont, CO
- 1: Assumed 4653 by consolidation March 29, 1927 (Farmers National Bank, Longmont, CO)
- 2: Assumed circulation of 4653
- 2: Absorbed 11321 July 3, 1930 (First National Bank (No Issue), Mead, CO)
- Bank was Open past 1935
- For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
- Merged into Centennial Bank of the West in Fort Collins, CO, October 1, 2005
About February 2, 1911, the secretary of state's office issued a charter to the Emerson & Buckingham Bank & Trust Co. of Longmont with D.C. Donovan, T.M. Callahan, W.H. Dickens, et. al., and capital $50,000.[2]
In April 1920, the Empson Canned Goods Co. located in three large plants in Colorado, one at Longmont, one in Loveland, and one in Greeley, was sold to five prominent men of Longmont for a sum of $1,000,000. The new owners of the company which was well-known throughout the world were W.L. McCaslin, president of the Longmont Farmers National Bank; Ray Kiteley, mayor of Longmont and cashier of the American National Bank; E.H. Van Zant, manager of the Empson Co.; H.J. Canis, general superintendent of the company; and C.L. Hover, a prominent Longmont businessman. Business associates of J.H. Empson, the Pea King, were taken completely by surprise. In addition to its factories, the company owned scores of pea hullers and receiving stations throughout Colorado. The company was originally founded 30 years ago in Longmont.[3]
On Tuesday, March 1, 1927, directors of the recently organized First National Bank of Longmont, formed by the consolidation of the Farmers National and the American National, completed organization by electing officers. The officers chosen were T.M. Callahan, chairman of the board, W.E. Letford, president; J.H. Jones, vice president; D.C. Donovan, vice president; Rae H. Kiteley, trust officer; W.T. Coon, cashier; L.B. Flanders and F.W. Sager, assistant cashiers. The new bank occupied the quarters of the old Farmers National.[4] The officers of the old Farmers National were William E. Letford, president; and Thomas M. Callahan, chairman of the board. Officers of the American National were D.C. Donovan, president and Ray H. Kiteley, manager and cashier. The American National was formerly the Emerson and Buckingham Bank, the first bank organized in northern Colorado.[5]
In July 1930, depositors of the First National Bank of Mead, one of the strongest banking institutions in Weld County, were sent a letter notifying them of the merger with the First National Bank of Longmont. The directors of the Mead bank were E.H. Markham, A.F. Peters, Walter E. Bliss, John Reese, W.E. Letford and T.H. Hill. All depositor's assets would be moved to the Longmont bank and persons with notes could arrange to change them for notes payable to the First National Bank of Longmont.[6]
In July 2001, the First State Bank in Fort Collins and First National Bank of Longmont came under common ownership of the First National Bank Holding Company. In January 2002, a name change was announced due to confusion about First State, First Bank, First National and Community First. The holding company, which also operated insurance and mortgage companies, engaged a marketing firm to help select a new name. Assets between the two banks totaled about $403 million with First State holding $93 million. A single charter would allow better service to customers such as the ability to send statements by e-mail, according to Tom Byington, chairman of First National Bank holding Co. A similar charter unification was formalized earlier in January between Centennial Bank of the West and Berthoud National. Centennial bought Berthoud National the previous summer.[7] The Longmont bank had offices at 4th and Main, South Hover at Bent Way and 17th & Pace. The Fort Collins bank had offices at 2900 South College Avenue and 1112 Oakridge Drive.[8]
- 06/21/2002 Acquired First State Bank of Fort Collins (FDIC #26898) in Fort Collins, CO.
- 08/08/2003 Changed Institution Name to First Main Street Bank, National Association.
- 10/01/2005 Merged and became part of Centennial Bank of the West (FDIC #15515) in Fort Collins, CO.
- 01/01/2008 Merged and became part of Guaranty Bank and Trust Company (FDIC #17482) in Denver, CO.
- 01/01/2019 Merged and became part of Independent Bank (FDIC #3076) in McKinney, TX.
Official Bank Titles
1: The American National Bank of Longmont, CO
2: The First National Bank of (2/28/1927), Longmont, CO
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $484,990 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1918 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 75,821 notes (61,200 large size and 14,621 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1: 1902 Plain Back 4x5 1 - 15300 2: 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 1232 2: 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 418 2: 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 3951 2: 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 770
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1918 - 1935):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- Thomas M. Callahan (Chairman of the Board 1927) A founder of Emerson & Buckingham Bank & Trust Co. of Longmont
- James H. Jones (VP 1927)
Bank Note History Links
- American National Bank/First NB, Longmont, CO History (NB Lookup)
- Colorado Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)
Sources
- Longmont, CO, on Wikipedia
- Don C. Kelly, National Bank Notes, A Guide with Prices. 6th Edition (Oxford, OH: The Paper Money Institute, 2008).
- Dean Oakes and John Hickman, Standard Catalog of National Bank Notes. 2nd Edition (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1990).
- Banks & Bankers Historical Database (1782-1935), https://spmc.org/bank-note-history-project
- ↑ The Daily Sentinel, Grand Junction, CO, Wed., May 1, 1918.
- ↑ United Labor Bulletin, Denver, CO, Thu., Feb. 2, 1911.
- ↑ Fort Collins Coloradoan, Fort Collins, CO, Wed. Apr. 14, 1920.
- ↑ Fort Collins Coloradoan, Fort Collins, CO, Wed., Mar. 2, 1926.
- ↑ Fort Collins Coloradoan, Fort Collins, CO, Fri., Feb. 25, 1927.
- ↑ Greeley Daily Tribune, Greeley, CO, Mon., July 7, 1930.
- ↑ Fort Collins Coloradoan, Fort Collins, CO, Wed., Jan. 30, 2002.
- ↑ Fort Collins Coloradoan, Fort Collins, CO, Sat., June 1, 2002.