First National Bank, Healdsburg, CA (Charter 10184)

Postcard of the Farmers and Mechanics Bank, Healdsburg, California ca1910s. This bank received charter 10184 as The First National Bank of Healdsburg in 1912. Courtesy of Adam Stroup

First National Bank, Healdsburg, CA (Chartered 1912 - Liquidated 1930)

Town History

Healdsburg First National Bank building on Plaza St. ca2020. Courtesy of Google Maps

Healdsburg is a city located in Sonoma County, in California's Wine Country. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 11,254. Due to its three most important wine-producing regions (the Russian River, Dry Creek, and Alexander Valley), Healdsburg has been continuously awarded one of the top 10 small towns in America and is home to three of the top wineries in the United States.

Early inhabitants of the local area included the Pomo people, who constructed villages in open areas along the Russian River. Anglo-American and Russian settlement may have commenced in the mid-19th century, with a settlement nearby, established downstream along the Russian River near Graton, in 1836, and later the Rancho Sotoyome land grant, in 1844. In 1857, Harmon Heald, an Ohio businessman who had been squatting on Rancho Sotoyome since 1850, purchased part of the rancho, giving the city its official founding date. In 1867, Healdsburg was incorporated. Farming, especially orchards and truck farms, was common within the present city limits from at least the 1890s to 1940s.

Healdsburg had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, The First National Bank (Charter 10184) and The Healdsburg National Bank (Charter 10204), and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

• Organized March 26, 1912
• Chartered May 1, 1912
• Conversion of The Farmers and Mechanics Bank of Healdsburg
• Liquidated January 7, 1930
• Absorbed by Bank of America of California, Los Angeles

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The First National Bank of Healdsburg, CA

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Date Back $5 bank note, serial number 1, with pen signatures of S.L. Wattles, Cashier and C.W. Weaver, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

1929 Type 1 $10 bank note with printed signatures of L.J. Hall, Cashier and C.W. Weaver, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $909,590 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1912 and 1930. This consisted of a total of 112,246 notes (108,256 large size and 3,990 small size notes).

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

Series/Type	Sheet/Denoms	Serial#s	Sheet Comments
1902 Date Back	4x5	1 - 2000
1902 Date Back	3x10-20	1 - 1500
1902 Plain Back	4x5	2001 - 15740
1902 Plain Back	3x10-20	1501 - 11324
1929 Type 1	6x5	1 - 477
1929 Type 1	6x10	1 - 138
1929 Type 1	6x20	1 - 50

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1912 - 1930):

Presidents:

• Dr. Charles Warren Weaver, 1912-1928

Cashiers:

• Samuel Lockwood Wattles, 1912-1912
• Joseph Hotchkiss Miller, 1913-1927
• Lieuallen J. Hall, 1928-1928

Other Known Bank Note Signers

• No other known bank note signers for this bank

Bank Note History Links

• First National Bank, Healdsburg, CA History (NB Lookup)
• California Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)

Sources

• Healdsburg, CA, 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