DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First National Bank of San Marcos, right there in Hays County. Now, every town has its founding story, and every founding story has one person who showed up at just the right moment and saw something nobody else quite saw yet. In San Marcos, that person was Ed J.
L. Green. Green came to San Marcos in 1859, all the way from Arkansas.
He was no stranger to hard work, and he had a sharp eye for what a growing town needed. He looked around San Marcos and saw the need for a bank. So he did what a man with vision does — he waited.
He watched. And then, in 1878, he bought the lots on the south side of the Courthouse Square and put up a large two-story rock building. May 6, 1879, Green's Bank opened its doors.
Now, Green wasn't the kind of man to let square footage go to waste. He rented the extra space out to lawyers, doctors, and real estate agents. Later the Chicago Store — a mercantile business — moved in, and after that, the San Marcos Phone Company.
That building was doing a lot of living. A man named Frank H. Malone operated the bank while Green was serving out his term as district clerk.
But the moment that term expired, Green stepped back in. He took the president's chair, gathered sixteen stockholders, and in 1885 they received a charter — official, on paper, the real thing — for The First National Bank of San Marcos. And if running a bank weren't enough to fill a man's days, Green was also a trustee on the board of Southwest Texas State University, mayor of San Marcos, and president of the school board.
He was, in a word, everywhere. Green retired in 1909. And right about then, the bank didn't shrink — it grew.
A three-story building was constructed on the southeast corner of the square, and that building stood occupied for sixty-six years. Then in 1975, the bank moved into a new facility on the same block — still rooted right there in the heart of San Marcos. Along the way, other presidents helped steer it: S.
Woodall, Alvy L. Blair, Robert Earl McKie, Jack Harper, and Bruce F. Harper.
Each one adding a chapter to a story that started with one man from Arkansas buying two lots and seeing what could be. The marker says it plainly, and it's the kind of thing you just have to tip your hat to: the First National Bank of San Marcos is the oldest business in continuous operation in this city. One building became two.
Two stories became three. And through all of it, the bank kept its doors open. That's not just history — that's staying power.
What the marker says
Ed J. L. Green (1841-1924) came to San Marcos in 1859 from Arkansas. He saw the need for a bank, bought the lots on the south side of the Courthouse Square in 1878, and erected a large two-story rock building. "Green's Bank" opened May 6, 1879. He rented the extra space to lawyers, doctors and real estate agents. The "Chicago Store," a mercantile business, and later the San Marcos Phone Company occupied the building. Frank H. Malone operated the bank until Green's term as district clerk expired. Green took over as president and with 16 stockholders in 1885 received a charter for "The First National Bank of San Marcos." Green was a trustee on the board of Southwest Texas State University, mayor of San Marcos, and president of the school board. After Green retired in 1909, a three-story building was constructed on the southeast corner of the square and was occupied for 66 years. In 1975 the bank moved into its new facility on the same block. Other presidents who were instrumental in the growth of the bank during its history included: S. Woodall, Alvy L. Blair, Robert Earl McKie, Jack Harper and Bruce F. Harper. This bank is the oldest business in continuous operation in San Marcos.