I'm amazed as to how our banks have changed over the years since I was a boy. The first bank I became acquainted with was our Bank of Pea Ridge, which for years occupied a small building in the old downtown. It had originated there way back in 1911, being one of the first concrete block buildings in the east block of the downtown. Up through 1910, the east block buildings were frame store buildings, several stores connected by a long front fascade on which the store names were painted. The early Putman Store was on the corner of the intersection, then the old pre-1928 post office, then the J.R. Wheat Store, which stood about where Webb's Feed and Seed stands today. When the concrete block structures were erected, the new Putman store was again at the intersection, then the Bank of Pea Ridge, somewhat later a drug store, then the buildings that have been used by Webb's Feed & Seed, and then what I like to call the Tetrick Building, which is now occupied by our City Hall, mayor's office and courtroom.
In the early days, as I have perceived the situation, it was somewhat rare for banks to have branches, or multiple banking locations. In the 1940s I only remember one bank in Bentonville, the Bank of Bentonville at the corner of Main and West Central, and one bank in Rogers, First National Bank on First Street just a few doors south from Walnut Street. There would later be new banks showing up in Rogers and Bentonville. I remember Farmers and Merchants Bank, which opened on Elm Street at South 2nd Street. But I don't think we ever thought there would be multiple banks in Pea Ridge, or that the main streets of Rogers and Bentonville would be lined with banks to the extent that we see today.
As Pea Ridge grew in population and geographic size, old downtown became "old" downtown and the "center of town" moved south to the intersection of Arkansas Highways 94 and 72. Our Bank of Pea Ridge moved to that intersection about 1968. Our Bank of Pea Ridge would later be purchased by First National of Rogers, then by Arvest Bank, which remains today. Our Bank of Pea Ridge was notable for the long tenure of its president, W.T. Patterson, who took that post in 1912 and continued into the 1960s. Hugh Webb also had a long career as the bank's vice-president.
The teller I remember best was Eufaula Abbott. I'm sure there were numerous others, but Eufaula stands out in my memory. The teller's window and customer service area in the old bank building were quite small. When the old bank building was serving as our Community Library, the old customer area was still discernable near the doorway. If there were more than three or four customers at the teller's window, it would have been crowded. We historic preservationists still lament that the old teller's window unit was sold when the bank moved, and we don't know where it is today. A few years ago we were able to retrieve the old vault door, which spent years in the Rice's Jewelry Store in Rogers. With help from Arvest Bank, the old vault door was purchased, returned to Pea Ridge, and is now on display in the Pea Ridge Historical Society Museum on North Curtis Ave. It would have been so great to also have the old teller's window, but alas, not to be!
The old Bank of Pea Ridge also has the distinction of being one of only two banks in Benton County to survive the 1930s Great Depression without failing. The two enduring banks were the Bank of Gravette and the Bank of Pea Ridge.
In my early years, we also had Savings and Loan associations, as well as our banks. In about 1958, I started a savings account at First Federal Savings and Loan of Rogers. The interest rate was 6 percent. During the Reagan years, banking regulations were eased. Banks could do more than they could before, and the result was that the Savings and Loan institutions faded away, and the era of big banks taking over small banks and banks reaching across state lines grew by leaps and bounds. The opportunity was presented for banks to offer credit cards all over the country. You might have a credit card with the Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, or with a bank in Boston, Mass.
My poor savings account, which had started with First Federal Savings and Loan, went through at least a half dozen ownerships. I remember Federal Savings Bank, Commercial Bank and Regions Bank. Also, over the years the interest paid on my little savings steadily dropped. I finally closed the account when the interest rate dropped below 1 percent. I was thinking that the next thing I'd have to start paying the bank to keep my little pot of money. Interestingly, if I could get 1 percent on a savings account today it wouldn't seem half bad! It is amazing to recall that in the 1970s some savings accounts were paying 13 percent! Oh, for a little of the old days to come back! Would that we could at least get 2 percent, or 3 percent! We'd start thinking that our little savings accounts are worthwhile again!
I think there must be 40-11 banks in Rogers and Bentonville -- maybe 80-11!! Our Metropolitan came and went. Hurray for our Arvest and Community First banks in Pea Ridge.
•••
Editor's note: Jerry Nichols, a native of Pea Ridge, is an award-winning columnist, a retired Methodist minister with a passion for history and vice president of the Pea Ridge Historical Society. He can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected], or call 621-1621.
Editorial on 08/05/2015