Citizens National Bank

(Weatherford National Bank)

101 North Main Street

When J.R. Couts moved Citizens Bank into the new stone building on the Weatherford Square in the early 1880’s he made a new commitment to doing business in Parker County.  Still the private bank that Couts had organized in 1868, Citizens Bank grew with Weatherford, and in 1882, and the bank received its national charter.  When the Citizens Board of Directors decided in 1987 to remove the brick façade and restore the original stone building – and those adjacent buildings that the bank had added over the years – it made another commitment to the growth and strength of Parker County.  The restoration and remodeling program took almost two years, with the open house and bank’s Historical Marker dedication in May 1989.  The million dollar plus project doubled the size of the banking house, taking in the second floor, which had never been used for banking while the interior was designed to house the latest in banking technology, it was achieved with the traditional furnishings and architectural commitment to the first bank built on the Square.  The Great Hall has already been used for many community meetings, following the Boards direction to be of service to Parker County.

Many prominent Weatherford businessmen served as officers and directors of this bank, including G.A. Holland, who wrote two histories about J.R. Couts and Parker County.  In 1902 James P. Owens, a cashier, developed a system of coded identification numbers for member banks of a state clearinghouse, thus reducing the time required to process checks.  This system was eventually adopted and saved banks interest formerly lost on checks in transit.  Today all checks have identification numbers across the bottom denoting the bank and customer account number.