According to the late Bonnie Summers, Kings Mountain historian, the first charter to be issued to a bank in Cleveland County was to First National Bank of Kings Mountain in 1900. It was organized primarily through the interests of the Mauney family. Its first president was William A. Mauney.
While the bank in Kings Mountain was the first to receive its charter, it was not the first bank in the county. The first bank in the county was J. Jenkins and Company, organized in 1879 by Jesse Jenkins and H. Dekalb Lee in Shelby. It was located at the corner of Lafayette and Warren Streets in Shelby. Shortly after its founding, Burwell Blanton joined as an investor and partner. In 1903, the bank received a national charter and became the First National Bank of Shelby.
A brief timeline of First National Bank history:
- 1874: Jesse Jenkins and H. D. Lee established J. Jenkins and Company, Shelby’s first bank, on Lafayette Street. Burwell Blanton joined as a partner shortly after.
- 1879: The bank’s name was changed to H. D. Lee & Company.
- 1895: The name changed again to B. Blanton & Company, composed of Burwell Blanton and his two sons, Charles and George.
- 1903: The bank received its national charter and officially became the First National Bank of Shelby.
- 1930s: The bank survived the Great Depression when President Charles Blanton personally invested $100,000 to ensure no depositors lost any money.
- 1998: The bank acquired First Carolina Federal Savings Bank of Kings Mountain.
- 2013: The First National Bank of Shelby was sold, but the name was repurchased by the Blanton family to continue operating as a community bank. The name would later become Bank OZK.
A second bank began operations in Shelby in October of 1905. The Shelby National Bank was located on the SW corner of Lafayette and Warren Streets. This beautiful building was built by brothers-in-law Albert P. Weathers and Cletus T. Hord, and Burgin (?) Dellinger.
In 1906, a second bank opened in Kings Mountain known as People’s Loan and Trust Company. About 1927, a merger created the new Commercial Bank and Trust Company.
Commerce
In the 1889 publication, “A Brief Sketch of Shelby,” the authors boasted that the town was thriving and numeral businesses were operating. The back pages of the pamphlet were filled with advertisements. One can tell from the wording of many of these ads how important service and quality was to the proprietors of these businesses.
Advertisements offer a snapshot in time of businesses and services operating in Cleveland County over the past almost 200 years. The ads below were found in local newspapers, brochures and pamphlets promoting the area, and in the back of school yearbooks.
Classifieds, 1841-1865
Classifieds, 1866-1899
Classifieds, 1900-1950
Cleveland County History 