Fort Bend Lifestyles and Homes Magazine Sep 2009: Historically Fort Bend

The first banks in Fort Bend County were private banks because state banks were prohibited by the Texas Constitution. State banks were allowed by law for a brief period between 1869 and 1876, but few were opened for business and none of those were established in Fort Bend County. After the Civil War, Congress passed the issuance of national bank charters. Again, in part due to strict regulation, few of these banks made their way to Texas. Private banks were often built around the cotton industry and other agriculture and mercantile businesses, as that was where most of the money was made and changed hands.

The first bank in Richmond was founded in about 1880. One of the first was J.H.P. Davis and Co. Other early bankers included Cecil A. Beasley, J. E. Dyer and John M. Moore. Dyer and Moore formed a partnership in 1888 that was succeeded by Dyer alone by 1890. J.H.P. Davis and Co. also established the first bank in Rosenberg in about 1904. It would be followed by the Rosenberg State Bank in 1909.

Banks were also formed in some of the small farming communities that dot the county. For example, F. I. Booth devoted part of his store at Booth to a small private bank.

Imperial Sugar established the Imperial State Bank as part of their operations in 1907, a few years after Eldridge and Kempner began operating the company. This bank was a part of Sugarland Industries, and its named was changed to the Imperial Bank & Trust Co. in 1909. When the company town came to a close and the city of Sugar Land was born, this bank became the Sugar Land State Bank.