Wallis State Bank

Duane's take

Now, I'm tellin' this one straight from the official marker, so you know every word of it is true. Pull up a log and listen close, because this is the story of the Wallis State Bank, and it stretches from the scrubby Texas prairie all the way to the present day. Settlement in this area began in the late 1830s.

Folks were already putting down roots here before anybody had thought to name the place. Then 1880 rolled around, and everything changed. The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway built a spur from Galveston to Temple, circumventing Houston, and just like that, a community took shape around that rail line.

They called it Wallis Station at first, and later just Wallis, after a rail company executive whose name would end up outlasting the steam engines themselves. As the population grew, new residents arrived, businesses followed, and somewhere along the way somebody looked around and said: we need a bank. In January of 1906, seven men answered that call.

D.N. Harris, F.D. Brandt, J.H.

Thompson, R.W. Thompson, J.F. Walters, L.

Tillotson, and W.A. Matthaei pooled a capital investment of ten thousand dollars and established the Wallis State Bank. Harris took the role of first president, Matthaei served as secretary, and O.R.

Prouty stepped in as first cashier. Three men, three titles, one brand-new bank, right here on this very site. Now the first home of that bank was a small frame structure.

Modest. The kind of building that says we're here, but doesn't brag about it. By 1912, though, the bank had grown confident enough to construct a two-story brick building in its place.

Brick says something different. Brick says we're not goin' anywhere. And to make the most of that second floor, the board of directors leased portions of it to the justice of the peace and a Masonic lodge.

A bank, a judge, and a lodge, all under one roof. Small-town Texas was nothing if not efficient. The local economy kept humming, and by 1918 it had grown enough to justify a second bank entirely, the Guaranty State Bank of Wallis.

Two banks in one small town. But the story of rivals doesn't always end in a showdown. In 1927, the Guaranty State Bank of Wallis merged with Wallis State Bank.

One institution, stronger for the joining. Now here's a detail worth savoring. The bank records from across the years tell the story of small-town Texas commerce in the most honest terms imaginable.

Loans secured by collateral such as tractors, cows, and horses. Not stocks and bonds, not futures and derivatives. Tractors, cows, and horses.

A man's word backed by the things that made his livelihood run. In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, Wallis State Bank expanded, opening branches in Fulshear, Houston, Meadows Place, and San Antonio. Along the way it also acquired the Wallis and Eagle Lake branches of another banking institution.

The bank constructed new facilities here as well, growing right where it had started. More than a hundred years of serving Wallis residents. That's the record.

Began with ten thousand dollars and seven names on a piece of paper, and built something the marker calls local strength and security. In a state full of big stories, sometimes the most enduring ones are the ones that started with a small frame building and a handshake backed by a horse.

What the marker says

Settlement in this area began in the late 1830s. In 1880, when the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway built a spur from Galveston to Temple, circumventing Houston, the community became known as Wallis Station and later Wallis, after a rail company executive. As the population grew with new residents and businesses, the community’s need for a bank became apparent. In January 1906, with a capital investment of $10,000, D.N. Harris, F.D. Brandt, J.H. Thompson, R.W. Thompson, J.F. Walters, L. Tillotson and W.A. Matthaei established the Wallis State Bank. Harris served as the bank’s first president, Matthaei as secretary and O.R. Prouty as first cashier. The bank began its operations at this site, and in 1912, the company constructed a two-story brick building to replace the original small frame structure. The board of directors leased portions of the second floor to the justice of the peace and a Masonic lodge. In 1918, the local economy justified the creation of a second bank, known as the Guaranty State Bank of Wallis. It merged with Wallis State Bank in 1927. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Wallis State Bank expanded its business by opening branches in Fulshear, Houston, Meadows Place and San Antonio, and it also acquired Wallis and Eagle Lake branches of another banking institution. Along the way, the bank constructed new facilities here. Bank records indicate the ways of business in small town Texas over the years, with loans secured by collateral such as tractors, cows and horses. For more than 100 years, the bank has served Wallis residents, representing local strength and security. (2006)