• FARMERS STATE BANK HISTORY January - History of banks in Yale – Part 1 In 1881, Charles and Bruce Yale, the sons of Milo Yale the founder of the city, started a private bank, The Citizens’ Bank of Yale. In 1889 this bank became the Yale Savings Bank and operated until it closed on June 6, 1926. It was located on the northeast corner of the intersection of Main Street and Bell Street where the Yale Post Office was located for many years. The Yale Fire Department building is currently in this location. Although the Yale Saving Bank was the first bank to serve Yale, it had no affiliation with Farmers State Bank. Look for Part 2 of FSB History with a continued look at history of banks in Yale. February - History of banks in Yale – Part 2 In 1914 a second bank opened in Yale. It was the Citizens Bank of Jamaica (a private bank) that was owned by the Heater family. The bank was located in a building where Farmers State Bank is currently located. On August 29, 1914 the entire west side of Yale’s Main Street was destroyed by a fire, including the bank building. In 1915, following the fire, George W. Heater and his son Guy E. Heater formed a new private bank called The Citizens Bank of Yale replacing the branch of The Citizens Bank of Jamaica. Next month in Part 3 we will explore the beginning of Farmers State Bank
  • CUSTOMER’S MEMORIES OF FSB Since its beginning in 1921, Farmers State Bank has been a cornerstone of the community. Longtime customers, former local residents, and retired employees have shared some of their memories of FSB. If you have a memory to share let us know, we would love to hear it! This month’s memory is shared by: January Remembers Bess Heater telling her that a friend of Bess’s had been to the bank to do some business but there was no one at the bank except the person who was sweeping the floor but the sweeper was her husband, Guy the bank Cashier, who not only ran the bank but did the janitor work as well. Remembers the large desks for the ledger books where the records were kept and the only equipment being a typewriter and an adding machine. February Our family would ride the train from Linden to Yale to do our banking business Jay W Hemphill’s desk was his filing cabinet. He had stacks of paper and files on it but he knew exactly where everything was and could pull it out of the stack when it was needed.