First National Bank of Bryan

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. The First National Bank of Bryan didn't spring up overnight, and its roots run deeper than most folks would guess. We're talking about 1862, right in the middle of the Civil War years, when a man named W.H.

Flippen and his partner Milton Parker set up a private lending agency down in Millican. Not Bryan. Millican.

That's where this story starts. Then 1867 rolls around, and the Houston and Texas Central Railroad extended its line north to a brand new city called Bryan. That railroad changed things.

Flippen bought out Parker's interest, picked up and moved to the new community, and merged his lending operation with that of Guy M. Bryan, Jr., son of the town's founder William Joel Bryan. Now that is a connection worth noticing.

The son of the man the town was named for, sitting down at the same table with the man who'd been running money out of Millican for years. They must have seen something worth building. By 1873, Guy Bryan had brought in partners Frank Clarke and J.W.

Howell, and the whole enterprise was reorganized as a private bank. Then came 1886, when a man named J.W. Fowlkes joined Clarke, Bryan, and Howell, and with that came a new name.

The institution was renamed the First National Bank of Bryan after being granted the eleventh National Bank Charter issued in the state of Texas. Eleventh in all of Texas. That's not a footnote, that's a distinction.

For years the bank made its home in the Fowlkes and Ticby Building in downtown Bryan, until 1919, when it moved to new facilities at 108 Main Street. Then came the years that tested everyone. The Great Depression didn't spare small-town Texas, but through careful business management, this bank survived it.

Came out the other side. During World War II, the bank supported activities that included an air base right there in Bryan. The institution kept moving forward, and in 1976, the main facility moved again, this time to 2807 Texas Avenue.

One lending agency in Millican, 1862. That's where it began. And it was still standing and still moving well over a century later.

Some roots just hold.

What the marker says

The First National Bank of Bryan traces its history to 1862 when its earliest predecessor, a private lending agency, was established by W.H. Flippen and Milton Parker in Millican. In 1867, after the Houston and Texas Central Railroad extended its line north to the new city of Bryan, Flippen bought out Parker's interest, moved to the new community, and merged his lending operation with that of Guy M. Bryan, Jr., son of the town's founder William Joel Bryan. Guy Bryan, along with partners Frank Clarke and J. W. Howell, reorganized this financial enterprise as a private bank in 1873. J. W. Fowlkes joined Clarke, Bryan, and Howell in 1886, and the institution was renamed the First National Bank of Bryan after being granted the eleventh National Bank Charter issued in Texas. The bank was housed in the Fowlkes and Ticby Building in downtown Bryan until 1919, when it moved to new facilities at 108 Main Street. Throughout its history, the First National Bank has supported community development, survived the Great Depression through careful business management and supported many activities during World War II, including an air base in Bryan. The bank moved its main facility to 2807 Texas Avenue in 1976. (1996)