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| Bank of Alpena cancelled in 1931 |
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| Question: In the current issue of the Boone County Historian / Oak Leaves, a check from the Bank of Alpena, Alpena Pass, Arkansas is pictured. What happened to this bank? Is any history available on this bank? |
| Answer: Chartered January 2, 1907, the Bank of Alpena, Alpena Pass, Arkansas, was a familiar site on main street of that town for many years. By 1923, J. W. Paul and J. E. Paul sold control of the bank to A. T. Hudspeth of Harrison. The directors were A. T. Hudspeth, Sterlin Hurley and E. H. Wymore. The small but prestigious little bank had capital of $10,000. |
| In the 1920s, the bank along with others was "set up" to be robbed by Lee Stitton. Stitton, along with Dave Lockhart, was well known in the area since they had been involved in the attempted robbery of a bank in Harrison in 1921, and the 1927 robbery of the bank at St. Joe. The robbery of the Bank of Alpena Pass never materialized, but stories of this band of robbers is told in Jim Liles' wonderful book, Old Folks Talking. You might remember Lockhart's name in articles written about the 1921 Starr attempted robbery of Peoples Bank in Harrison, since he was one of Henry Starr's accomplices at the time. |
| Sterlin Hurley was in charge of the Bank of Alpena from 1930 until he took a job in 1931 with the National Banking Department. Nine banks and two investment corporations, comprising most of the financial institutions in Boone, Marion and Searcy counties and all headed by A. T. Hudspeth, closed in September 1931. Combined resources of almost $2 ½ million were frozen, and liquidation began. |
| When the Bank of Alpena failed, very few people got their money and most lost everything. That was true with many communities across Arkansas, not just residents in those three counties. Confidence in banking institutions was thoroughly shaken and many people began to utilize postal savings. Even though the severe drought of 1901 had practically caused a collapse of Alpena Pass and farmers had to seek employment away from the farm, they still felt it would take a decade or more to bounce back from the bank closing. The crash was inevitable due to the deterioration of securities and the general downward trend of business, but many families still today remember this hard time. |
| People were able to feed themselves in 1931 due to an abundant harvest of practically everything produced on farms, including an unusually good crop of fruit. Many of Philosophic turn of mind say that the people experienced a lesson that would prove valuable and that the economy would be given more consideration in the future. Indeed, the area did bounce back and banking institutions once again flourished. |
| Information on Alpena, plus many other communities in Boone County, is filed in the archives at the Heritage Museum in Harrison. The museum is located on the corner of South Cherry Street and Central Avenue. Hours are from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. |
| This column appears Fridays in the Harrison Daily Times. Mail questions to Boone County Heritage Museum, P. O. Box 1094, Harrison, AR 72601. Marilyn Smith can be contacted at bchm@windstream.net |
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