Former Site of Midland National Bank

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. This one starts in Odessa, on August 22, 1902, with a bank and a name it wouldn't keep for long. They called it the Odessa National Bank, and they got it off the ground with an initial capital of twenty-five thousand dollars.

Not bad for a starting hand. But before the ink was barely dry, the shareholders sat down in June of 1903 and voted to pick the whole thing up and move it to Midland. New town, new name.

Midland National Bank. Now they needed a home, and what they found was the Llano hotel. Built back in 1890, that two-story wooden hotel was already a gathering place, the kind of spot where ranchers and businessmen pulled up chairs and talked about weather, cattle, land, and deals that might or might not pan out.

The bank moved into the lower floor and set up shop. For a while, everything was going just fine. Then 1909 arrived.

Fire came through the downtown area and took the Llano hotel with it, along with others nearby. The structure was destroyed. Now here's where the story takes a turn that says something about Midland's character.

They rebuilt the hotel on the same site. Same spot, still standing, and the bank kept right on leasing office space there. Time kept moving.

By 1927, the bank's principal business had shifted from agriculture to the emerging oil industry. West Texas was changing, and Midland National was changing with it. By 1953, they had a brand new three-story bank building up at the corner of Texas and Big Spring streets.

Four years later, in 1957, they added a nine-story tower on top of that foundation. Then in 1968, Midland National and the Bank of the Southwest merged. The bank moved again in 1976, this time to a new fourteen-story structure at 500 West Texas.

And in 1983, the name changed one final time to First City National Bank of Midland. Started as the Odessa National Bank with twenty-five thousand dollars and a vote that sent it down the road. Ended up fourteen stories tall with a whole new name.

That's not a bank that stood still.

What the marker says

Organized in Odessa on August 22, 1902, as Odessa National Bank, this institution began with an initial capital of $25,000. In June 1903 the shareholders voted to move the bank to Midland and rename it Midland National Bank. Bank offices were set up at this site in the Llano hotel. Built in 1890, the two-story wooden hotel building was a gathering place for ranchers and businessmen. The bank occupied the lower floor of the hotel until 1909, when the structure, along with others in the downtown area, was destroyed by fire. The hotel was rebuilt on the same site, and the bank continued to lease office space. By 1927 the principal business of the bank had shifted from agriculture to the emerging oil industry. A new three-story bank building was erected at the corner of Texas and Big Spring streets in 1953, and a nine-story tower was added in 1957. Midland National and the Bank of the Southwest merged in 1968. In 1976 the bank moved to a new fourteen-story structure at 500 W. Texas. The name of the bank was changed to First City National Bank of Midland in 1983.