Merchants and Miners National Bank – Oak Hill, West Virginia

Per History of Oak Hill by: Shirley Donnelly (published 1953)

The Merchants and Miners National Bank was organized as the Merchants and Miners bank in the year of 1905. The state issued a charter to do business on February 9 of that year. However, the institution did not open its doors until January 1, 1906. Curiously enough, the bank opened on a National holiday – New Year’s Day. The organization of this bank was effected in the home of J. S. Lewis. The Lewis house stood on the site now occupied by the business covered by the Woolworth Store and adjacent properties.

The original capitalization of this bank was $50,000.Latter on the amount was increased to $60,000. Subsequently the new capitalization was raised to $100,000, at which figure the amount remains. Of the initial 500 shares of stock in the bank, 105 were held by C. T. Jones, fifty-five by Joe S. Hill, and fifty-two by George W. Jones, brother of C. T. Jones. Eighty-seven stockholders comprised the bank at the time of organization. Deposits on the opening day of the bank totaled $38,000. C. T. Jones was president of the bank and remained in that capacity until his death at Jacksonville, Florida, March 26, 1911. The first cashier was T. H. Hooper, a native of Buckingham County, Virginia. Mr. Hooper served as cashier until the close in 1915, when W. R. Hayes succeeded him in that capacity. Joseph S. Lewis was the vice president, in which office he was to serve for over thirty years. Lewis, like Hopper, was from Buckingham, Virginia.

The bank building was constructed of native stone. The rock used in the building was quarried in the hollow above the Whipple mine shaft. E. L. Booth, then in employ of C. T. Jones on his Lundale Farm at Oak Hill, hauled the stone in a wagon to the building site. The lot and the adjoining one on which the cashier’s house was built were bought from M. C. Bibb. The consideration was something like $500 for both parcels of land.

Following the nationwide banking holiday in 1933, the Merchants and Miners Bank was changed from a State to a National Bank. The effective date of this change was December 21, 1933.