First National Bank of Weatherford

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First National Bank of Weatherford, up in Parker County. Now settle in, because this one stretches more than a century. Founded in 1880, the First National Bank of Weatherford holds a distinction that most institutions would kill for: it is the fifth oldest federally chartered bank still operating in the entire state of Texas.

Fifth oldest. Out of the whole state. That is not nothing.

The man who set this whole thing in motion was Samuel H. Milliken, born in 1846, and he had a long run; all the way to 1931. Milliken was a Parker County industrialist and civic leader, and if that weren't enough, he was also a founder of the railway company that completed the very first rail lines to reach Weatherford.

The kind of man who didn't just show up to a place; he helped wire it into the future. Now, a bank is only as good as the people who tend to it day after day, and on that score the First National had a man named Walter S. Fant.

Walter worked at this bank for fifty-four years. Fifty-four. That is not a career so much as a dedication; the kind that doesn't announce itself, just quietly shows up every single morning until suddenly half a century has passed and the whole town has grown up around you.

Fant and the other bankers who kept this institution running held to what the marker calls a sense of community dedication, and you can feel the weight of that phrase when you consider what this bank witnessed. It opened its doors during the days of frontier Indian raids; that is the era it was born into; and it kept right on going through industrial growth, agricultural expansion, and everything Parker County threw at it in between. Over a hundred years of lending, saving, and showing up.

From frontier to modern; one bank, one county, one long unbroken run.

What the marker says

Founded in 1880, this is the fifth oldest federally chartered bank operating in Texas. It was started under the direction of Samuel H. Milliken (1846-1931), a Parker County industrialist and civic leader and a founder of the railway company that completed the first lines to Weatherford. Walter S. Fant, who worked here for 54 years, and other bankers maintained a sense of community dedication. For over 100 years the First National Bank has led in the development of the city from the days of frontier Indian raids to the current era of industrial and agricultural growth. (1981)