First National Bank

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Out in Hood County, there's a building that's been keeping money and secrets since 1883, and the walls themselves will tell you so, if you know how to listen. Hand-hewn native limestone, every block of it cut from the land right around here, shaped by hand into what the marker calls a good example of Victorian commercial building.

That's the kind of understatement that only makes you want to look closer. D.C. Cogdell and John H.

Traylor opened a private bank in that first unit of the structure in 1883, and right there is where the story starts. Not a national bank yet, mind you. Just two men, a private bank, and a building made of stone that wasn't going anywhere.

Then 1887 rolls around, and a national bank charter gets issued. Now it's official. Now it's got the full weight of a charter behind it.

Somewhere along the way a second structural unit got acquired, and the footprint of the place grew to match its ambitions. Over the years the officials who ran things read like a roll call of Hood County persistence. Jeff Nutt served from 1900 to 1932.

C.H. Bencini came through in 1935 and 1936. Jake Green carried it from 1936 to 1948.

Henry Zweifel put in time from 1929 all the way to 1970. And John S. Luton came on in 1952.

Generation after generation, the limestone held. The hand-hewn blocks that Cogdell and Traylor built around in 1883 were still standing, still doing their job, still looking like exactly what they are: a building that was built to last, by people who expected to be around long enough to need it.

What the marker says

First unit in structure was built 1883--year private bank was opened by D.C. Cogdell and John H. Traylor. National Bank charter was issued in 1887 and second structural unit was later acquired. Besides the organizers, officials have included Jeff Nutt (1900-32); C.H. Bencini (1935-36); Jake Green (1936-48); Henry Zweifel (1929-70); John S. Luton (1952- ). The hand-hewn native limestone structure is a good example of Victorian commercial building. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1972