Potters National Bank, East Liverpool, OH (Charter 2544)

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This postcard depicts the third Potters National Bank building in use after 1924.

The Potters National Bank of East Liverpool, OH (1881 - 1931) was one of the most successful banks in East Liverpool and primarily serviced the pottery manufacturers that were the basis of the East Liverpool economy. It technically liquidated in 1931 when it merged with Dollar Savings Bank. The succeeding institution did not retain national bank status although it viewed itself as the same institution and continued to grow for decades afterward.


Early History

In 1881, the Potters National Bank was organized with resources of $111,300. Civil war veterans Captain William Brunt and Colonel John Taylor served as the first president and vice-president, respectively. Initially, the bank operated out of the McKinley hotel building but was quickly able to construct its own headquarters within the bank's first year of operation. [1]


Bank History

This postcard depicts the second Potters National Bank building in use from 1901-1924. This building was razed in 1924 and the site was reused for the bank's third building.

Brunt's tenure as president would see the bank outgrow its first headquarters and begin developing a larger facility. The Potters National Bank board of directors traveled to nearby Pittsburgh, PA to review bank buildings in that city and began work on selecting an architect to design the new facility. [2]

The third Potters National Bank building as it appeared on March 29, 2019.

In scarcely more than two decades, the bank would outgrow its second headquarters and build its third headquarters, which still operates as a bank today. The purchase of two additional lots on Washington street allowed this third headquarters to expand from a footprint of 30-by-70 feet to 80-by-70 feet. Construction costs of the third building totaled $355,000. Materials and furnishing were salvaged from the existing building. During the razing of the old site and construction of the new, Potters National Bank temporarily operated out of a building that was formerly occupied by the First National Bank of Liverpool. [3]

Business in the 1920s was booming so much for the bank that within a year of opening the new headquarters building the bank was able to issue a 200% stock dividend. This stock dividend increased the bank's capital to $300,000. Shareholders were also asked to approve issuing an additional $100,000 in stock in January 1926. Total resources of the bank at that point exceeded $1,000,000. Both capital increases were approved by the comptroller of the currency. [4]

In July 1928, the state bank examiner found in favor of the city of East Liverpool that Potters National Bank owed a total of $822.70 in interest to the city's sinking fund. A dispute had arisen between the city and all three deposit institutions that the city used, of which Potters National Bank was the largest. The banks had argued that the agreement between that city and the banks had expired. [5]

In 1931, Potters National Bank and Dollar Savings Bank Co. merged into a new institution named Potters Bank and Trust Co. As a result of this merger, cashier R. W. Patterson chose to retire but he remained on the board of directors of the new bank. [6] President W. E. Wells was expected to head the new bank but his sudden and unexpected death led to the election of R. L. Cawood. [7] Just prior to the merger, Potters National Bank had resources of $3,000,000. [8]

In December 1938, Potters Bank and Trust Co. purchased the building of the former Peoples National Bank of Wellsville (Charter 6345) which became their Wellsville branch. The bank's resources were $5,731,672 at the end of 1938.[9]

In 1994, Potters Bank and Trust Co. was purchased by National City Bank which itself was later purchased by PNC.

Bank Notes Issued

1929-T1 $5 note signed by Rollin W. Patterson, Cashier and William E. Wells, President.

A total of $4,197,780 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1881 and 1931. This consisted of a total of 748,260 notes (570,684 large size and 177,576 small size notes).

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

Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments
1: Series 1875 4x5 1 - 8819
1: Series 1875 3x10-20 1 - 266
1: 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 6200
1: 1882 Date Back 4x5 1 - 8100
1: 1882 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 5270
1: 1882 Value Back 4x5 8101 - 14350
1: 1882 Value Back 3x10-20 5271 - 8750
2: 1902 Plain Back 4x5 1 - 104286
3: 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 29596

Official Bank Title(s)

  • The Potters National Bank of
  • The Potters National Bank, (07/11/1921)
  • The Potters National Bank [1929]

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

First National Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1889 - 1935):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

  • There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.

Wiki Links

References

  1. ↑ East Liverpool Evening Review February 25, 1977
  2. ↑ East Liverpool Evening Review March 29, 1900
  3. ↑ East Liverpool Evening Review February 11, 1924
  4. ↑ East Liverpool Evening Review December 25, 1925
  5. ↑ East Liverpool Evening Review July 31, 1928
  6. ↑ East Liverpool Evening Review October 9, 1931
  7. ↑ East Liverpool Evening Review October 9, 1931
  8. ↑ East Liverpool Evening Review March 19, 1963
  9. ↑ East Liverpool Evening Review March 19, 1963
  • 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://bbdata.banknotehistory.com
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