First National Bank in Corcoran, CA (Charter 14230)
First National Bank in Corcoran, CA (Chartered 1934 - Open past 1935)
Town History
Corcoran is a city in Kings County, California. The population was 24,813 (2010 census), up from 14,458 (2000 census). Corcoran is located 17 miles south-southeast of Hanford, at an elevation of 207 ft. Corcoran is most notable as the site of the California State Prison, Corcoran which opened in 1988. The California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison, Corcoran is a separate facility that is also located in the city. As of January 1, 2015, the two prisons held a combined total of 9,592 inmates. Inmates are counted as city residents by both the United States Census and the California Department of Finance. Thus, the incarcerated people in the two prisons comprise just over 43% of the total population of Corcoran. In 1930, the population was 1,768.
Corcoran was founded by Hobart Johnstone Whitley, a prominent land developer from southern California, who took the lead in building Corcoran (the main street of the community is named in his honor). Liking what he saw during a visit to the area in 1905 (a blacksmith shop, small store, scattered homes and a lush, untapped vista with herds of grazing wild hogs, horses and steers) Whitley purchased 32,000 acres to start development. Much like in the San Fernando Valley (Van Nuys and Canoga Park his "creations"), Whitley "leveraged" his holdings with the support of important Los Angeles businessmen. Whitley first intended the town be named "Otis", after Harrison Gray Otis of the Los Angeles Times, and streets as Otis, Sherman, Letts (the Broadway store) and Ross (after his son, Ross Whitley) show the connections. Whitley, it is claimed, purchased and platted some 150 towns over the American West—and Corcoran is one of his last.
Corcoran had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized May 29, 1934
- Chartered July 21, 1934
- Succeeded 9546 (First National Bank of, Corcoran, CA)
- Assumed circulation of 9546
- Bank was Open past 1935
On Thursday, July 19, 1934, J.W. Guiberson, conservator of the First National Bank of Corcoran, received authority to return the old bank back to its directors for the purpose of consummating the reorganization plan. Under the plan the new bank would take over certain assets of the old bank and all deposits in the old bank would be available on a 100 percent basis.[1]
On Monday, July 23, 1934, the new First National Bank in Corcoran, Charter 14230, opened for business. Deposits amounted to $3,000 more than the withdrawals, indicating a healthy condition. The bank officials elected Saturday were J.W. Guiberson, president; E.J. Harp, vice president; and Nis Hansen, J.C. Sperry and L.A. Hansen, directors. B.G. Crary was cashier and H.L. Roberts, assistant cashier.[2]
On December 15, 1944, the sale of the First National Bank in Corcoran to the Transamerica Corporation, a Bank of America affiliate, was announced by J.W. Guiberson, president of the Corcoran financial institution for almost 30 years. Guiberson announced he was retiring from the bank because of ill health and that the bank would be operated under its present name by Transamerica. Guiberson purchased the Corcoran First National in 1915. The bank's last statement as of June 1944 showed resources of $2,125,183.14.[3]
The night of February 6, 1952, Joseph W. Guiberson, former president of the First National Bank of Corcoran and a large-scale rancher in the Tulare Lake basin, died in a Corcoran Hospital. Guiberson built the first levees on Tulare Lake and the farm corporation with his name controlled more than 4,000 acres in the rich lake bed area. Guiberson was a past president of the California Cotton Growers Assn. and a former director of the State Cattlemen's Assn.[4]Guiberson attended schools in Ventura County, Woodbury's Business College in Los Angeles and the University of Southern California. At the age of 19, he leased a 640-acre stock ranch in Ventura County and at the end of 15 months, when the ranch was sold, he had made a profit of $1,500. Meanwhile he bought a drug store and made real estate investments in Santa Paula. In 1905 he became associated with the Security Land and Loan Company which owned 30,000 acres of land in the Corcoran district. He came to Kings County as the representative of this company. He established the first livery stable in Corcoran and soon acquired several pieces of valuable property adjoining Corcoran. He was said to have erected the first building in town. Subsequently, the J.W. Guiberson Company was organized with a capital of $500,000. This was a dairy and stock raising concern. For years Guiberson was an active real estate agent maintaining offices in both Corcoran and Los Angeles.[5] Guiberson was a Democrat and served in the state legislature during the special session called by Governor Hiram Johnson in 1913.[6]
Official Bank Title
1: First National Bank in Corcoran, CA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $8,100 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1934 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 1,620 notes (No large size and 1,620 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 1620
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1934 - 1935):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Corcoran, 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
- ↑ Hanford Morning Journal, Hanford, CA, Sat., July 21, 1934.
- ↑ Hanford Sentinel, Hanford, CA, Tue., July 24, 1934.
- ↑ The Fresno Bee, Fresno, CA, Fri., Dec. 15, 1944.
- ↑ Visalia Times-Delta, Visalia, CA, Thu., Feb. 7, 1952.
- ↑ Hanford Morning Journal, Hanford, CA, Fri., Feb. 8, 1952.
- ↑ The Hanford Sentinel, Hanford, CA, Fri., Feb. 8, 1952.