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The Banks
The Banks
In 1875 the city had its first banking business operated by the Renfroe Brothers from Opelika. It was under management of J.T. Lancaster, but according to records, it went out of business in 1883. It would be 1888 before the city had another bank. This time, the bank was opened by Reuben Herzfeld and his brother Marcus.
The Herzfeld brothers opened a bank with a vault of stone with an iron door, a burglar proof safe, a counter and railing with $50,000 worth of capital stock subscribed.
The directors of the new bank were Rueben Herzfeld, Mayor B.L. Dean, A.J. Coley, Sr., W.F. Stearns, H.W. Pearson, J.C. Maxwell, W.S. Thomas, W.H. Thornton and F.M. Douglas. W.S. Thomas was the only salaried employee. He was a cashier and was paid $75 a month, according to Kelley’s writings.
The Herzfeld Brother’s bank — named the Alexander City Bank — quickly outgrew where it was located and moved to a location on the corner of Jefferson and Green Streets.
B.F.C. Russell and his sons, Ben and Tom, borrowed $25,000 to establish Alexander City’s second bank, named The Citizen Bank. It was located on Main Street. The vault was built from native stone and Tom was cashier and Ben was president. The original building burned, like nearly everything else, in the downtown 1902 fire, as did the Alexander City Bank. The Citizens Bank money was salvaged and carried to the home of Ben Russell and the money from the Alexander City Bank was carried to the home of J.C. Maxwell. The two banks continued to operate from those two homes for some
