The Punta Gorda Bank
Posted by: rogueblack
N 26° 56.070 W 082° 03.160
17R E 395495 N 2979615
The corner of Marion Avenue and Cross Street was the site of the first bank to serve Punta Gorda, Florida.
Waymark Code: WM78PV
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 09/20/2009
Views: 20
Bearing the emblems of Charlotte County and City of Punta Gorda Downtown, this historical marker stands on the corner of Cross Street, aka Southbound US-41, and Marion Avenue in Historical Downtown Punta Gorda.
The marker bears the following text:
The Punta Gorda Bank
The Punta Gorda Bank was operating by June 1894 as a branch of the State Bank of Fort Meade. It was chartered by the state as a separate bank in July 1899, with a capital of $15,000 and Perry Wadsworth McAdow as president. McAdow had earned a fortune as the owner of the Spotted Horse gold mines in Fergus County, Montana, and decided to relocate to Punta Gorda after vacationing here with his wife. McAdow constructed a one-story, brick facade commercial building on this location to house the bank. The Punta Gorda Bank occupied the corner storefront, with Earnest Dry Goods, the Punta Gorda Trading Company, Wade's Drug Store and a community social hall known as McAdow Hall filling the remainder of the building.
By December 1912, the bank's assets had grown to $147,000, and a competing bank, The Merchant's Bank of Punta Gorda, opened in April of 1912. The Punta Gorda Bank underwent some years of uncertainty, and on April 23, 1917 was reorganized as the State Bank of Punta Gorda. The new bank assumed the deposits and liabilities of the old Punta Gorda Bank and was relocated to a new building.
Charlotte County Board of County Commissioners, 2008
Marker Number: n/a
Date: 2009
County: Charlotte
Marker Type: City
Sponsored or placed by: Charlotte County Commissioners
Website: [Web Link]
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