First National Bank, Belle Fourche, SD (Charter 6561)

ca.1915 postcard of the First National Bank.

First National Bank, Belle Fourche, SD (Chartered 1902 - Receivership 1931)

Town History

2015 photo of the old First National Bank building.

Belle Fourche is the county seat of Butte County in western South Dakota, north of the Black Hills, and was incorporated in 1903.

Belle Fourche (which is French for Beautiful Fork) was named by French explorers, referring to the confluence of what is now known as the Belle Fourche and Redwater Rivers and Hay Creek. Beaver trappers worked these rivers until the mid-19th century, and Belle Fourche became a well known fur trading rendezvous point. During and after the Black Hills gold rush of 1876, farmers and ranchers settled in the fertile valleys and open plains, growing food for the miners, and raising cattle.

Belle Fourche was not started as a town until 1890 when the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad by-passed Minnesela (then the county seat of Butte County) and made its terminus at Belle Fourche. By 1895, Belle Fourche was shipping 2,500 railroad carloads of cattle per month in the peak season, making it the world's largest livestock-shipping point.

During the National Bank Note Era (1863-1935), the population of Belle Fourche was 541 in 1900, growing to 2,032 in 1930. It's highest (and current) population is estimated at 5,702 (2019).

Belle Fourche had one National Bank chartered during the Bank Note Era, and it issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

• Organized December 8, 1902
• Chartered December 29, 1902
• Receivership November 6, 1931

Official Bank Title(s)

1902 Red Seal $20 Serial Number 1 bank note with pen signatures of D.R. Evans, Cashier and George H. Rathman, President

1902 Plain Back $10 bank note with pen signatures of Weir Jepson, Cashier and D.R. Evans, President. Courtesy of Heritage auctions, www.ha.com

1: The First National Bank of Belle Fourche, SD

Bank Note Types Issued

1905 Bank letter from the First National Bank.

1931 counter check drawn on the First National Bank with a vignette of the bank building.

A total of $91,780 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1902 and 1931. This consisted of a total of 7,442 notes (6,680 large size and 762 small size notes).

This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:

Series/Type	Sheet/Denoms	Serial#s	Sheet Comments
1902 Red Seal	3x10-20	1 - 440
1902 Date Back	3x10-20	1 - 660
1902 Plain Back	3x10-20	661 - 1230
1929 Type 1	6x10	1 - 116
1929 Type 1	6x20	1 - 11

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

First National Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1902 - 1931):

Presidents:

• George Henry Rathman, 1903-1903
• Thomas J. Steele, 1904-1906
• Thomas Haskins Gay, 1907-1920
• David Robert Evans, 1921-1927
• Henry Gabriel Weare, 1928-1930

Cashiers:

• David Robert Evans, 1903-1920
• Weir Agnew John Jepson, 1921-1921
• James Ralph Mock, 1922-1930

Other Known Bank Note Signers

• No other known bank note signers for this bank

Bank Note History Links

• First National Bank, Belle Fourche, SD History (NB Lookup)
• South Dakota Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)

Sources

• Belle Fourche, SD, on Wikipedia
• Robert E. Driscoll, Seventy Years of Banking in the Black Hills (1876-1946) (Rapid City, SD: The Gate City Guide, Publishers, 1948).
• 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