First Federal Communty Bank gets Texas historical marker | News

“We are really proud to have it, and it will be here forever,” Amis said before he and Meyers unveiled the marker. “The marker is dated 2021, and here it is 2023, but all that time we were prepping for our 100th anniversary. While we were doing that, Marvin (Gorley) and other members of the committee were working on this plaque. It just takes time; you’ve to be patient.”

The marker gives a brief history of the bank, which first organized in April 1922 when 15 Paris businessmen joined together fo form a state-chartered financial institution, The Paris Building and Loan Association. Its goal — to lend money to its members for building, improving and paying debts on homesteads.

“At a board meeting in May, the loan association approved its first loan to the Paris High School music teacher for construction of a new home. Two days later, the association began public operations in the First National Bank Building. In 1925, it relocated a a ground-floor office on South Main Street. By this time, they financed more than 100 homes.”

In 1966, First Federal moved into its new building on Clarksville from one built in 1937 at 16 Clarksville St. Celebrating its 75th anniversary in 1997, the bank established the First Federal Community Foundation, a source for contributions to worthwhile community projects, and a year later changed its name to First Federal Community Bank.

Local historian Gorley provided information, compiled and submitted information for the First Federal marker just as he and fellow historian Skipper Steely have done numerous times for markers around Paris and Lamar County.

The Texas Historical Commission, formed in 1953, administers the Texas Historical Marker Program, which was established in 1962, according to an introduction in the Gorley publication “More to the Story,” which includes many Paris and Lamar County Texas Historical Marker narratives, including that of First Federal.

Historical marker applications are submitted by individuals or groups to local historical commissions such as the Lamar County Historical Commission. They are then reviewed for significance and accuracy before being forwarded to the Texas Historical Commission for a final decision and marker production.