The town of Bell Buckle was booming in the late 1880s. Businesses were successful, the creamery was up and running, the Webb School had moved to town with premier education, and it was time for the next step. An ice cream shop! Priorities, right? While one was opened in 1887 by the managers of the Bell Buckle Creamery Co., that’s not what today’s story is about.
Let’s talk money, honey! With all this success, Bell Buckle was in need of a bank. In late 1887, one of the first (if not the first) banks founded in Bedford County, outside of Shelbyville, was organized and a building constructed. H. Webb was the first president.
The safe made for the bank was manganese steel and weighed 9,000 pounds! The bank began with a capital of $30,000.
In February of 1891, a fire broke out at 2am in Cooper & Rankin’s dry goods store. It quickly swept through the row of buildings consuming several businesses including the 3 year-old bank. It was rebuilt a couple years later in 1893 for $1,000.
By 1927, the bank’s capital had decreased to $20,000. While things were looking up for a time, the times were getting harder. The bank collapsed during the Great Depression and liquidated on December 30th, 1931. It paid depositors and unsecured creditors 25 and 1/2% of their claims.
The bank was located in the building where Hilltop Antiques is today. The original vault and safe are still there and you can go see them with your own eyes! There’s even an antique booth inside the vault.
You can see the wear and tear on the front door step. A testament to the folks that have come and gone here for 130 years. Here’s to another 130!
These are original checks from The Bank of Bell Buckle in the 1890s. One of my prized Bell Buckle possessions!
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