North Carolina

1st Annual BB&T; Block Party held at the Merrimon Avenue branch in Asheville North Carolina. 850 Merrimon Avenue Asheville, NC 28804 828-225-2160 Sandra Banks Financial Services Manager ----------------------------------------------------------- History of BBT Simple Beginnings In the aftermath of the Civil War, Eastern North Carolina lay tattered, battered and torn ... an easy mark for profiteers and politicians bent on destroying what little remained. There was no money, no law and precious little trust or faith in the once-proud institutions of the South. Alpheus Branch, the son of a wealthy planter in Halifax County, first came to Wilson to attend Deems Military Academy. After the war, he married Nannie Barnes, the daughter of Gen. Joshua Barnes, one of Wilson’s founders. Branch established a small mercantile business called Branch and Company. Through his business and community involvement, he came to know Thomas Jefferson Hadley, a Wilson county native who was trying to organize the first system of public schools. They joined forces in 1872 to create a banking institution people could believe in, Branch and Hadley. As private bankers, Branch and Hadley accepted time deposits, paid interest and loaned money to help rebuild the farms and small businesses in the community. With a place to borrow money at reasonable interest to buy seed and fertilizer, area farmers planted their fields in cotton and in the early 1880s, experimented with a new money crop, tobacco. In 1887, Branch bought Hadley’s interest in the bank for $81,000 and changed its name to Branch and Company, Bankers. In 1889, Branch, his father-in-law Gen. Barnes, Hadley, J.F. Bruton, R.L. Thompson and Walter Brodie secured a charter from the North Carolina Legislature to operate the Wilson Banking and Trust Company (later amended to the State Bank of Wilson and later to Branch Banking and Company). However, the charter was not implemented until 1900. Alpheus Branch died Jan. 3, 1893. The bank continued to grow in the years that followed. In 1900, Branch and Company, Bankers, was sold to Branch Banking and Company, holder of the state charter. On Dec. 20, 1902, the bank opened a savings department, paying four percent interest compounded quarterly. Prior to 1900, virtually no trust business was conducted in North Carolina by institutions. The 1889 state charter authorized the bank to organize a trust department, but changes in the law delayed implementation until 1907, when Branch Banking and Company became the first bank in the state to engage actively in trust activities. Trials and Triumphs in a New Century The new century saw expanding opportunities for BB&T.; In 1913, the charter was amended to change the name to Branch Banking and Trust Company. BB&T;’s assets grew with Government bonds, investments from other banks, and even an increase in personal deposits — wartime shortages meant that people had little to do with their money except to save it. America’s entry into World War I saw BB&T; engaged in the sale of Liberty Bonds, making loans in a growing economy and gaining a reputation as one of North Carolina’s “big banks.” By 1923, BB&T; had exceeded $4 million in assets, a 307 percent increase since 1914. Four new offices were established, an insurance department opened in 1922, and the mortgage loan department began in 1923. With the stock market crash of 1929, banks that had invested heavily in stocks began to fail. From January 1930 to January 1932, 131 state banks in North Carolina failed. By Dec. 30, 1931, the other seven banks in Wilson had closed. At BB&T;, many customers withdrew funds to deposit at the Post Office in Postal Savings, the only apparent safe investment. What they didn’t know was that postal officials took that same money and deposited it in BB&T.; While public confidence in banks had disintegrated, the government’s faith in BB&T; had not. While the number of North Carolina banks fell from 489 to 287 between 1929 and 1933, BB&T; grew from five branches to 11 and assets increased from $4.7 million to $13.7 million. The period that followed saw even greater growth, more branches and the opening of a bond department. A New Prosperity World War II brought government bonds, investments from other banks and a wartime prosperity that caused people to save because few consumer goods were available. Following the war, as former GIs bought cars and other consumer items, BB&T; was a source of regular loans and installment loans. In the 1960s, BB&T; enjoyed unprecedented growth. With mergers, acquisitions and new branches, BB&T; grew to $343 million in assets with 60 offices in 35 cities. BB&T; continued to grow through the ’70s and ’80s. Assets reached $10.5 billion by 1994, with 263 offices in 138 cities in North and South Carolina. BB&T; was North Carolina’s fourth largest bank. A Merger of Equals In 1995, BB&T; and Winston-Salem-based Southern National Corporation, the sta

• published: 18 Sep 2010
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