A Home Town Bank

In the year 1908 when the town of Altavista, Virginia was in its infancy, a group of local business realized that the town, being located at the junction of two railroads, The Southern and the Virginian (soon to be completed) and the Staunton River, had prospects of great potential, but in order to grow and attract business, a bank was a necessity.

Mr. Henry L. Lane of the Lane Brothers Company, founders of the town, a local physician, Dr. W.O. Smith and Mr. W.S. Frazier, a lumber mill owner and operator, proceeded with the organization of a bank and mad application to the Treasure Department in Washington. D. C. for a charter, which was granted on December 17, 1908 to "The First National Bank of Altavista.", Altavista, Virginia with a capitalization of $25,000. Mr. Lane was elected President, Dr. Smith, Vice President and E.T. Yeaman, Cashier, and banking was begun in a portion of a newly erected building of the Lane Brothers Company at the corner of Broad and Seventh Streets. Mr. Yeaman, the Cashier, operated the bank alone for some time and as business increased, the Board of Directors employed a bookkeeper, Miss Douglas Snow, in August 1909.

In 1917, First National Bank purchased the building from Lane Brothers utilizing the same space in which it began and rented the space it did not use to several local businesses.\With the confidence and cooperation of its depositors, the bank continued to grow through the challenging years of the depression.

Through its ninety-nine years of business, The First National Bank of Altavista has operated under six presidents, Henry L. Lane, Dr. W.O. Smith, W. S. Frazier, Paul W. Tyree, S. Thomas Cox, and Robert H. Gilliam, Jr. The bank is unique in that it has maintained the same name and has been headquartered on the same corner at Broad and Seventh in Altavista as when the bank opened in 1908.

From humble beginnings in 1908, the bank has grown in assets to $268,000,000 as of June 2007 with capital of $25,000,000. The First National Bank of Altavista currently maintains eight offices. The Main Office and Vista Branch are located in the town of Altavista, the Airport Branch and Timberlake Branch in Campbell County, the Old Forest Road Branch in the City of Lynchburg, the Forest Branch in Bedford County, the Amherst Branch in the Town of Amherst and a Loan Production Office in Franklin County at Smith Mountain Lake.