Oldest Bank in the Texas Panhandle

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it to you straight from the stone. Picture the Texas Panhandle, that wide-open stretch of High Plains where the wind doesn't ask permission and the nearest neighbor might be a day's ride away. Into that country came early settlers, tough folks who needed somewhere to put what little they'd scraped together.

And somebody had to be first to say: I'll hold it for you. That somebody was James Christopher Paul. Now here's a detail worth sitting with for a moment.

Paul wasn't just any lawyer. He'd learned his craft from Temple Houston, and Temple Houston was the son of Sam Houston himself. That's a lineage that carries some weight out on the High Plains.

Paul came in as a pupil of that man, and he brought those lessons with him when he founded what would become the second commercial bank opened in the Panhandle of Texas, and the oldest in continuous service. The early settlers throughout the High Plains area were among the very first depositors. Ordinary people, putting their trust, and their money, into something new.

Fast forward now to May 6, 1927. The great oil boom is roaring across the Panhandle, money moving fast and loud the way oil country does. Judge Paul and his associates saw the moment and opened a second bank, the First National.

Two banks, same man behind both, one region on fire with possibility. Then comes December 31, 1942, the last day of the year, and the two banks merged into one. What started as two became a single institution carrying all that history forward.

And here's the part that lands quietest and hits hardest: many accounts at that bank are still held by the heirs of those original early depositors. The same families. The same trust, handed down.

And a son of Judge Paul, that pupil of Temple Houston's son, still serves on the Board of Directors. In a place where the wind takes most things with it, some roots just hold.

What the marker says

Second commercial bank opened in the Panhandle of Texas. Oldest in continuous service. Founded by James Christopher Paul, pupil of Sam Houston's son, lawyer Temple Houston. Early settlers throughout the High Plains area were among the first depositors. On May 6, 1927, during great oil boom, Judge Paul and associates opened a second bank, the First National. On December 31, 1942, the two merged. Many present accounts are held by heirs of early depositors. A son of Judge Paul still serves on the Board of Directors.