Shinnston Early Banks— Part II
Last month’s column started a trilogy of articles by recognizing the different homes of
Shinnston’s first banking institution, Farmers Bank. This month’s column will examine the
accompanying image of Shinnston’s second banking institution, First National Bank.
The image was taken just after completion of the building. Note that when the photographer
was scratching the glass negative to identify the image, the letter “k” was left out of the word
‘bank’. After a few copies were printed, the photographer noted the mistake and quickly added
a “k” to the negative for additional prints.
Located at the northwest corner of Pike and Bridge Streets and operated since 2006 as the Bice-
Ferguson Memorial Museum, the building was originally built to house the First National Bank
of Shinnston. Four local men submitted an application to open a National Bank in Shinnston
and then members in Washington, D.C. approved the application in April 1909. The bank
opened for business in September 1910 with a public reception that lasted nine hours and
welcomed a surprising recorded number of over twelve hundred people through its doors that
day. Lunch was served to visitors that day and members of the Clarksburg Orchestra were
present to greet people with musical entertainment.
The elegantly-styled two story structure was built of Indiana limestone and pressed brick by the
Smith Construction Company of Morgantown.
Steps are seen at the entrance to the bank, which went back down to street level once inside
the lobby, providing a grandeur experience. The bank contained several rooms. Upon entering
the building, your first sight was the main “banking room”, or public lobby, that was decorated
with many vibrant colors and contained both gas and electric fixtures. The lobby was separated
from the “counting room” by a marble partition surmounted by mahogany railings and a solid
bronze screen.
There was a “director’s room” located behind the counting room and it had several pieces of
mahogany furniture in it.
The bank contained two large steel vaults, one where all of the money was kept and the other
for safety deposit boxes. The latter vault also had a “customer’s room” adjacent to it that
supplied customers with very nice relaxing mahogany furniture. There was also a “waiting and
coupon room” with a special window for lady customers.
A cashier’s office was available for private consultations and this office faced the entrance. It
was decorated with emerald green and ivory tints and contained a roll-top desk with matching
chairs for the cashier as well as the customer. The first cashier was Washington Booth and he
held that position until 1914, at which time he was elected President of the Clarksburg Trust
Company. He was replaced by Clyde Cole.
The first bank President was John A. Fleming, but by 1911, George Harrison of Enterprise,
nearly 70 years of age, was elected President of the bank and remained in that position until his
death at the age of 85. The Shinnston Historical Association was in the possession of a large
painting of George Harrison, which hung in the lobby of the bank for many years while Mr.
Harrison was its president. The SHA Board of Directors donated the painting to the Bice-
Ferguson Memorial Museum in 2023.
The rear section of the building (which is today used as a meeting room) was separated from
the bank and that large rear room operated in early years as a grocery store with an entrance
from Bridge Street. The success rate of having a grocery store at this location was short-lived as
evident by the fact that five different men each operated a grocery store at different times over
a five year period.
Until the building was remodeled for museum use, the second level contained several individual
rooms that were utilized as both offices and apartments over the years. Some of the offices
occupying space on the second level while the bank was located on the main level were for
physicians, attorneys, contractors, oil companies, and coal companies, as well as a cleaning,
pressing, and tailoring business. One lady who rented an upstairs room as a residence also
operated it as a beauty parlor.
In January of 1920, the Peoples Bank of Shinnston, which will be the topic of next month’s
article, merged with the First National Bank. This brought the capital to nearly $100K.
When the Wall Street stock market crashed in October 1929, the First National Bank of
Shinnston lost its capital during the ensuing economic turmoil of the Great Depression, ending
its term in Shinnston.
A much longer history could be written about the businesses that claimed home to this building
over the years, but I focused on the immediate years following the completion of the building,
which is in keeping with the column’s title, story behind the photo.