Oldest - Bank in Alabama - Brewton, AL - First of its Kind on Waymarking.com

From the historical marker.

Recognized as “Alabama’s Oldest Bank,” the Bank
of Brewton opened for business on Monday,
January 7, 1899. Brewton, Alabama was a prosperous
town in the late 1800s. A local resident, Charles
Sowell, participated in the flourishing times. A
native of Monroe County, Alabama and a wounded
veteran of the Civil War, Sowell settled in Brewton.
After a brief stint as a railroad station agent, he
began a timber industry that produced a
sizeable fortune. In 1880 Sowell commented, “If I
take all my gold and silver and put it on a
wagon, two mules could not pull it. We need a
bank.” Sowell started organizing the bank that
would be the first bank in Escambia County, Alabama
and the first bank between Mobile and Montgomery.
The Bank of Brewton was initially a private bank
in 1889, but received a state charter in 1891. Its
original location was a few doors from this spot.
In 1912 the bank moved into a building at this
site, acquired an adjacent building known as the
Lovelace Hotel in 1957 and constructed a new
building in its place in 1964. The bank of
Brewton had only 11 presidents in the first 119
years of its existence. The quality of labor of
its early leaders and the support of local citizens
is what has established the historic value
of the institution

FIRST - Classification Variable: Place or Location Date of FIRST: 01/07/1899 More Information - Web URL: Not listed

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