NEW MATAMORAS-July of 1911 was one of the hottest on record for the village of New Matamoras, with the temperature topping out at 100 degrees in the oil boom town, shipping port and farming community along the Ohio River.
But July also marked another historic event that year-establishment of the Peoples Savings Bank.
"New Matamoras was a thriving oil and gas community and there was a lot of river commerce here. In fact, the community continued to thrive through the 1960s," said Ron Cooley, the bank's current chief executive officer.
Article Photos
SAM SHAWVER The Marietta Times
Peoples Savings Bank CEO Ron Cooley holds bank calendars from 1926 and 2006 at the business Tuesday. The bank, celebrating 100 years in New Matamoras, has kept its calendar format the same over the years.
"It's hard to find an independent community bank that continues to operate after 100 years," he said. "But we've now become a cornerstone business with a big footprint in eastern Washington County."
Cooley said Peoples Savings Bank will celebrate the milestone from noon to 2 p.m Saturday with refreshments and giveaways at the facility's current location, 710 Second St. (Ohio 7) in New Matamoras.
"We want to show our appreciation to the community as well as celebrate this historic occasion," Cooley said.
Fact Box
If you go
What: Peoples Saving Bank 100th anniversary celebration.
Where: 710 Second St., New Matamoras.
When: Noon to 2 p.m. Saturday.
Includes: Refreshments and giveaways
Peoples Savings was the third financial institution established in New Matamoras but the only one to survive into the 21st Century.
"The first, the Bank of New Matamoras, closed around 1900, and the second, the First National Bank, failed during the Depression years," Cooley said. "But we had enough capital and liquidity to survive those years."
Since the 1930s, Peoples Savings Bank has been the New Matamoras community's only bank.
The bank was chartered on July 11, 1911, and organized with 41 original shareholders. There were 250 shares of capital stock issued at the time at a par value of $100, according to Cooley.
"Many of those shareholders' descendants, third and fourth generations, continue with us today," he said.
Today the bank employs 21 people and has branch offices in Newport and Lower Salem.
Linda Kirkbride, vice president of operations, has been with the bank since 1968.
"The technology has changed a lot over those years. We didn't have computers when I started here," she said.
Co-worker and assistant cashier Russ Wickline, a 38-year veteran at the bank, said you had to know your business math.
"We had to calculate interest by hand, and you made sure it was right," he said.
The original bank building, located at the corner of Front and Main streets, was gutted by a fire, and the bank moved to its current location in 1978. The Newport office opened in 1974 and the Lower Salem office in 2009.
In 2007 the Peoples Savings Bank was listed among the 20 top performing independent banks in the nation, according to the Independent Community Bankers Association.
