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Bank History
Farmers State Bank opened its doors for business on March 21, 1921, after receiving its state charter to begin operations. Thirty-five stockholders started the bank with capital investments totaling $30,000. The original board of directors of the bank consisted of F. McClatchey, H.E. Culver, S.M. Thompson, C.R. Hemphill, and C.H. Erb. The elected officers were William Cordis, President; W.H. Burchfield, Vice President; Guy E. Heater, Cashier; and W.R. Hitchens, Assistant Cashier.
The bank is still in its original location on the west side of Main Street in Yale. When the original structure was destroyed by fire in 1928, the current building was constructed at a cost of $15,000. The interior of the building was extensively remodeled in 1967 and updated again in 2009.
Farmers State Bank was the only bank in the county to reopen after the "1933 Bank Holiday" during the Great Depression, which makes it the oldest bank in Guthrie County. The following article appeared in a June 1933 issue of the Guthrie County Vedette:
“The Farmers State Bank of Yale, which has been operating under Senate File 111 since the bank holiday, opened for business, making fifty percent of all deposits available at once, the remaining fifty percent to be held in trust for not to exceed three years. At the end of the first day’s business, deposits exceeded withdrawals by more than $500, evidence the public has not lost confidence in the stability of the bank.”
Another interesting bit of bank history occurred on the morning of October 21, 1931. Jay W. Hemphill was the first to arrive for work that morning. Upon his arrival he was confronted by two robbers who had hidden in the bank during the night, and demanded money from the vault. When W.R. Hitchins arrived for work a short time later he was ordered into the vault with Hemphill. The robbers then fled the bank with $4,585.82 only to find their getaway car, which had been parked a block north and a half block west of the bank, was gone! Mayor Fred Brechbiel, who operated the garage across Main Street to the east of the bank, had noticed the strange car in town and had towed it to his garage and locked it inside. The two robbers then stole a car from the driveway of bank Cashier Guy Heater, who lived just west of where the getaway car had been parked. The bandits were later caught and stood trial.