First State Bank Building

On the 30th of May, 1921, a charter was presented to the State of Florida for the First State Bank of New Port Richey. Officers of the corporation were Elroy Avery, president; Noah Swartsel, vice-president; Oscar Herms, second vice-president; Charles Barnett, cashier; and Elroy Avery, Noah Swartsel, Oscar Herms, Charles Price and D. C. Gillett as directors. One hundred and fifty shares of capital stock were to be issued for $100 each.

Several years before, in 1918, George Sims had plans for a bank in New Port Richey. He constructed a building on the southeast corner of Main and Boulevard that was referred to as “The New Bank Building” all the time it was under construction. But George’s plans for a bank fell through and he ended up moving his Port Richey Company into the building instead. This meant that the bank chartered as the First State Bank in May of 1921 needed to find a different location to set up business.

On August 12, 1921, the Tarpon Springs Leader newspaper reported;

The building they erected for the new First State Bank was the same one that still stands today on the northwest corner of Main Street and Grand Boulevard – diagonally opposite of the building George Sims built to be a bank.

The bank opened for business on October 15, 1921. And business was good. Deposits after the first day in business were reported to be $33,000. Two months later deposits totaled $75,000, and by February of 1922 they were over $100,000. That’s a lot of money in 1922 dollars. Being the only bank in West Pasco County at the time, it was supported by local residents, as well as customers from Elfers, Odessa, Hudson, Aripeka and other communities in the area. First State Bank was also the official deposit bank for both county and public school funds.

It is interesting to note that in July of 1922, the First State Bank building installed the first radio receiver in New Port Richey. On Wednesday night, July 19th, the bank gave a demonstration of the new equipment to interested citizens by listening to radio broadcasts from Key West and other points.

Other innovations soon followed at the First State Bank building. In September of 1923, it was reported that the bank was installing the latest technology in electric burglar alarm systems – similar to that being used at the Treasury Department in Washington, DC. As part of the security system, the vault would also be lined with steel plating. The alarm system consisted of a set of electrically operated gongs mounted on top of the building that would sound if there was any unauthorized tampering with the vault in the bank.

Details of the alarm system installation were reported in the New Port Richey Press on January 11, 1924. The alarm was purchased from the American Bank Protection Company of Minneapolis, and protected against vault break-ins by drilling or explosives, or by cutting with an acetylene torch. There were two ten inch bronze gongs next to the safe, and a twenty inch gong on the front of the building. The gongs themselves were even protected by their own alarms.

On January 8, 1923, the board of directors of the First State Bank at their annual meeting accepted the resignation of Dr. Elroy M. Avery as president of the bank. He had been a part of the founding fathers of the institution, and served as its president while accepting no pay for doing so. He was credited in large part with the tremendous success of the bank, and awarded the position of President Emeritus and Chairman of the Board.

The good times just kept rolling for the City of New Port Richey, incorporated in October of 1924 – and for the First State Bank. By 1926, total deposits had exceeded one million dollars. Charles Price had served as president after the retirement of Dr. Elroy Avery. At the annual meeting in January of 1926, William Barnett, who had served as the bank’s cashier since its inception, was promoted to president by unanimous vote of the board of directors. Other officers at the start of 1926 were Charles Monroe Price, E. P. Campbell and A. W. Gage, vice-presidents; Archie Boyd, cashier; George Sims, S. B. Davis, Edgar Wright, Warren Burns and Jesse M. Mitchell were on the board of directors.

In March of 1926, the First State Bank agreed to purchased the entire allotment of “White Way Bonds” from the City of New Port Richey. Not familiar to most of us these days, the term “White Way Bonds” referred to municipal bonds to finance the conversion of street lighting from gas lanterns to electric lights. A few streetlights had already been installed back in 1920 by Warren Burns’ Gulf Utilities Company with the help of the Women’s Civic Club. But this assumption by the bank of all the issued municipal bonds cleared the way for the City to proceed with its expanded streetlighting plans.

In December of 1926, the First State Bank of New Port Richey was designated as a depositary for the United States government – thus making it a local, state AND federal bank. At that time, it was also interesting to note that William Barnett was the youngest bank president in the State of Florida. He went on to become the mayor of New Port Richey from 1919 to 1931.

The stock market crash of 1929, leading to the “Great Depression” began a tough time for banks in the United States. But most – like the First State Bank of New Port Richey – survived the initial impact of “black Tuesday” and continued to function more or less as normal. But as people with money invested in the stock market lost most of the value of their holdings, they began to withdraw money from their bank savings accounts. Within a few years of the 1929 crash, several waves of panic withdrawals caused many banks to close.

The First State Bank seemed almost immune to this trend for a while. This may have been because a large number of its investors were rich and famous people who had their assets tied up in the entertainment or real-estate business, instead of the stock market. And a big part of the local bank’s resiliency was no doubt due to its stellar banking record and popular support.

But on June 13, 1931, the First State Bank, feeling the pressure of increased withdrawals, closed its doors under the pretense of “reorganization” and to “protect the bank’s depositors to the fullest extent”. Newspaper articles in the following weeks continued to promise that the closing would be temporary, and that the bank would open again shortly. Various businesses offered to take checks written on First State Bank accounts at face value in payment of debts. And citizens wrote letters to the editor appealing for calm and patience to let the bank board get things back in order. But it was not to be. The First State Bank of New Port Richey never reopened for business.

These were trying times for the City of New Port Richey. The Great Depression had finally forced its local bank out of business. The once-envisioned dream of being the “Hollywood of the East” seemed to be disappearing as people began hoarding their money instead of spending it on entertainment and luxuries. And to make matters even worse … the Avery Public Library – an institution perhaps loved more than any other in town – was forced to close because it could not pay its debtors due to having lost its funds with the failure of the First State Bank. The local volunteer fire department also lost the savings they had accumulated for a new fire house.

This is not the end of the story for the First State Bank building. After the property was liquidated, it was purchased by Addison Miller – who was also the owner of the Meighan Theatre. No longer a bank, it took on a new life as a leased insurance and law office. An article in the New Port Richey Press of September 22, 1939 reported;

With the start of World War II, the First State Bank building took on yet another role. It became the headquarters for the local rationing board. Citizens who came in to receive ration coupons for various commodities were served at wicket windows that used to accommodate bank tellers. And the supply of ration tickets – which were commonly reported stolen in other parts of the country – were safely kept in the old bank safe. The rationing board had two paid clerks and a number of local volunteers to help with the war rationing program.

During the period from 1946 until about 1950, the First State Bank building served as the town’s check exchange business referred to as the “Business Client Bureau Check Exchange”. It was operated by Rollo Draft.

In December of 1951, a new bank with the name “Gulf State Bank” was organized and approved by the state comptroller’s office. It would be located in the old First State Bank building. Finally, after 18 years, the City of New Port Richey would have its own bank again.

The officers of the new Gulf State Bank would be A. L. Ellis, president; Rollo Draft, vice-president; R. A. Cooper, cashier; Sam Allgood Jr., Archie Clement, R. A. Cooper, W. C. Davis, R. Draft, A. L. Ellis and J. N. Greening as directors. The bank president, A. L. Ellis, was the president of First National Bank of Tarpon Springs, and had 26 years of banking experience. The cashier, R. A. Cooper also came from the Tarpon Springs bank.

Finally, after many months of delay in getting all the legal paperwork settled, Gulf State Bank opened for business on July 15, 1952. On the previous evening, an open house was held and people thronged to the occasion to celebrate finally having a local bank again. About $90,000 worth of deposits were received on the first day of business. By September of 1952, deposits totaled more than one million dollars.

LIke the earlier First State Bank, the Gulf State Bank was highly successful and eagerly accepted by local residents. It too was chosen by Pasco County for much deposit business. The bank moved to a new, larger building at the corner of Main and Bank Street on February 14, 1956.

In June of 1956, the First State Bank / Gulf State Bank building became home to the Davis Pharmacy after extensive remodeling. The proprietor of the new pharmacy business was Harvey Davis, who had previously been associated with the Lane Pharmacy in Tarpon Springs.

Davis Pharmacy was in operation at this location until at least 1963.

Occupancy and ownership of the old First State Bank building is unclear in years beyond the 1960s. It is currently the home of McPherson & Thomas, Attorneys at Law.

This article was added on May 31, 2024 by Paul Herman, digital media archivist, West Pasco Historical Society.
Page last edited by Paul Herman on May 31, 2024