Electra State Bank

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, if you want to talk about a building that's seen some things, pull up a chair and listen close, because the story of the Electra State Bank starts back in 1908, when this town was still finding its footing. That year, somebody decided Electra needed something solid, something permanent, and they put up the first brick structure the town had ever seen.

Think about that. Every other building around it, wood. This one, brick.

It stood out from the very beginning. The building went up in 1908, and right away the Waggoner Bank moved in and set up shop. They held that address from 1908 all the way through 1911.

Then came a change of hands, as these things tend to go, and the First State Bank took over. First State settled in and stayed a good while, running the place from 1911 clear through 1931. That is a stretch of years that'll weather more than a few storms.

Then in 1931, the Electra State Bank came through the door, and friend, they did not leave. Now here's the part that gives this old building its real character. In 1952, somebody decided it was time for a facelift.

They remodeled the whole thing. But here's what the marker wants you to know, and what makes it worth tellin'. They kept the original foundations.

They kept the original walls. Whatever was new on the outside, the bones of that first brick building in Electra were still standing right where they'd been planted in 1908. Some things, you just don't tear down.

What the marker says

Building erected 1908, the first brick structure in Electra. Occupied 1908-1911 by Waggoner Bank; 1911-1931 by First State Bank; since 1931 by Electra State Bank. Remodeled in 1952, using original foundations and walls. (Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1966.)