Merchants and Farmers State Bank

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, friends, and it's a story worth tellin'. Now, Weatherford, Texas. The town square.

January 22, 1889. Somebody signs a charter, ink barely dry, and just like that, the Merchants and Farmers National Bank of Weatherford is alive. They didn't waste much time either.

By March 15 of that same year, the doors were open for business, capital of one hundred thousand dollars sitting behind the counter. That's no small sum for Parker County in 1889, and everybody in that county knew it. They set up shop on the southwest corner of the town square; prime real estate, the kind of corner where you see everybody and everybody sees you.

But somewhere in the stretch of 1893 to 1894, the bank picked up and moved. Not far. Just across the square to the northeast corner.

Same square, different angle, and that's where it has stood ever since. Now, a bank is only as steady as the people running it, and this one had some steady people. E.

H. Eddleman sat in the president's chair from 1889 all the way to 1915. That's a long stretch of seasons; droughts and harvests, boom times and hard ones, and Eddleman was at the helm through all of it.

Then W. R. Woodhouse took the reins from 1915 to 1919.

And after him came J. H. Doss, Sr., who held that position from 1919 to 1945.

Three presidents. Decades of Parker County history passing through one set of front doors. Along the way, in 1909, the directors looked around the table and decided a state charter suited them better than a national one.

So the name changed: Merchants and Farmers State Bank. Same institution, same corner, different paperwork. And what did this bank actually do for Parker County?

Well, if you were a farmer needing a loan to get through to harvest, this was your place. If you were a local business trying to get off the ground, same answer. Home mortgage?

You know where to go. The marker calls it the primary lending source for many agricultural enterprises, local businesses, and home mortgages in the county. That's not background noise; that's the backbone of a community's economy, one handshake at a time.

The bank kept growing. Modern facilities got built as the years rolled on. And then in 1986, it took on a new name altogether: Texas Bank.

Different name on the sign, but the same institution that had been serving Parker County since that January morning in 1889. Over a century of planting seasons, Parker County booms, and quiet Tuesday mornings at the northeast corner of the Weatherford square. Some things, it turns out, are built to last.

What the marker says

Chartered on January 22, 1889, as the Merchants and Farmers National Bank of Weatherford, this institution opened for business on March 15, 1889, with capital of $100,000. In 1909 the bank's directors voted to apply for a state charter, and the institution's name was changed to Merchants and Farmers State Bank. Originally located on the southwest corner of the town square, the bank has occupied this site on the northeast corner since 1893-94. Early leaders of the bank included E.H. Eddleman, President from 1889 to 1915; W.R. Woodhouse, President from 1915 to 1919; and J.H. Doss, Sr., President from 1919 to 1945. The Merchants and Farmers State Bank has played an important role in Parker County history as the primary lending source for many agricultural enterprises, local businesses, and home mortgages. The bank has maintained a strong civic commitment since its founding and supports a number of community and charitable activities. Continued growth over the years has led to the construction of modern banking facilities. Renamed Texas Bank in 1986, this bank has contributed to the growth and development of Parker County for over a century. (1990)