The History
Theodore Roosevelt was President of the United States when The Roscoe State Bank first opened its doors for business on December 6, 1906. The oldest bank in Nolan County, the Bank was formed through the issuance of $20,000 in Capital Stock with its first Board of Directors being made up of W. F. Jones, J. B. Carlisle, G. F. Light, J. C. Seale, G. C. Spires, E. L. Hopkins, and T. M. Dobbins. At that time, the Bank was located on the north side of Broadway between Cypress and Main Street. The original officers elected by the Board were W. F. Jones, President, J. B. Carlisle and G. F. Light, Vice Presidents, E. L. Hopkins, Cashier, and T. M. Dobbins, Assistant Cashier.
The original bank building was leased from J. M. Chappell who erected the building on the condition that the Bank would take a five year lease. In 1911, R. K. McAdams succeeded Mr. Jones as bank president and the Bank moved to the northwest corner of Broadway and Cypress. Mr. McAdams served in that capacity until T. M. Dobbins assumed the duty in 1925. Also in 1925, the Bank erected a new facility. This building was remodeled and improved in 1950 and remained the Bank’s home until 1963. This location was donated to the City of Roscoe and now serves as the location for the Roscoe Museum. A new bank building was constructed and opened in July 1963 at 117 Cypress and still serves as the Bank’s headquarters.
During the 1920’s and 1930’s, Roscoe had two banks: Roscoe State Bank and First National Bank of Roscoe (initially known as Farmers State Bank). In 1931, First National Bank of Roscoe was declared insolvent by the regulators and was acquired by Roscoe State Bank.
In 1949, Mr. Dobbins died and W. R. Potter became the Bank’s fourth President. He began working at the Bank in August 1921 as a bookkeeper and worked his way up through the ranks, becoming Assistant Cashier in 1923, Cashier in 1938, and President eleven years later. He served as President until his retirement in 1972.
In 1972, Mr. Potter sold his interest in the Bank to an investor group led by Trevlyn Kelley, a Colorado City banker, who became the Bank’s fifth President. Mr. Kelley’s presidency lasted until 1976 and during that time the Bank experienced significant growth due to higher loan volume and above average cotton crops.
In 1976, a group of local citizens led by Clyde Jay purchased controlling interest with Clyde serving as the Bank’s sixth president. Clyde began his banking career at Roscoe State Bank in 1939 as a bookkeeper and served in various capacities for 55 years. Under his direction, the Bank continued to grow and prosper throughout the 1980’s despite subpar cotton crops, falling energy prices, declining real estate values, and an unprecedented high interest rate environment which led to a record number of bank failures in Texas during that decade.
In 1990, John Jay was elected the Bank’s seventh president with Clyde assuming the role of Chairman of the Board, a position he maintained until his death in 1994. In September 1996, Roscoe State Bank opened its first branch in Sweetwater. Prior to opening that branch, total banking assets of Roscoe State Bank were $31,400,000 with total deposits of $27,100,000. Since then, the growth of the Sweetwater branch has more than quadrupled the size of the banking assets in Nolan County of our Bank which is a tribute to the dedication and outstanding work ethic of our staff in both of our Nolan County locations. We take great pride in being the fastest growing bank in Nolan County.
In June 2004, Roscoe State Bank opened its first branch in Bastrop in a leased location that served as its Bastrop home until a stand alone facility was built and opened in March of 2006. The interest in branching in Bastrop was driven by our strategic goal of diversifying the Bank’s assets, particularly in light of the extended drought in West Texas that began in 1996 and continued through 2004. This strategy has not only strengthened the Nolan County banking locations, it has resulted in stronger, more diversified growth for our organization. The growth from our Bastrop branch has addressed our strategic goals thanks to the outstanding dedication and performance of our Bastrop staff. We have proudly supported the growth in Bastrop County and look forward to continue being an intregal part of its future growth.
It is pleasing that the Bank’s culture and marketing strategy is successful in two separate and distinct markets and economic environments. Since December 2004, we have averaged almost $600,000 in new deposits every month combined from all of our locations, a trend we expect to continue for the foreseeable future. These results are a compliment to our outstanding staff who all believe in our unique and successful culture, and our convenience banking concept which includes expanded hours and same day credit given on deposits made up until six o’clock each business day. We also believe in providing a simplified, low cost deposit product structure and offer FREE business checking, FREE personal checking, FREE internet banking with FREE online bill pay, FREE mobile banking including mobile deposits, and FREE telephone banking.
In 2022 our Bank merged with Cornerstone Home Lending to form Cornerstone Capital Bank, SSB. This partnership furthers our ability to offer exceptional products and service, and industry leading technology. The investments made in our communities by our new joint organization speak to the commitment we have to our customers and neighbors. We look forward to a bright future with our new partners at Cornerstone.