THEN & NOW

400 block of West Jefferson Street, 1960 vs. 2022

Liberty National Bank, later Bank One, now JP Morgan Chase, is distinguished as the oldest bank still operating in Kentucky. Chartered in 1854 as the German Insurance Company, the banking functions separated in 1872 and became known as the German Insurance Bank. In 1918, during World War I, the bank joined other regional institutions to express patriotism through a name change.

Liberty Insurance Bank became Liberty National Bank in 1935 and remained a financial force in Louisville until it was purchased by Bank One Corporation in 1994. In 2004, Bank One was acquired by New York City-based JP Morgan Chase & Co. Since 2005, Louisville's oldest financial institution bears the name Chase.

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