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Our
bank is built on a solid foundation!
That
solid foundation began with capital stock of $100,000.00 and a surplus
of $50,000.00. Today, with assets of $130 million, First National Bank
of Louisiana is large enough to provide a multitude of financial
services and yet small enough to provide personal banking and financial
planning to our customers.
The
Roaring ‘20s was a decade of many significant firsts:
Women
voted for the
first time
in the 1920
Presidential
 election;
the
first
one-person,
non-stop, transatlantic flight from New York to Paris was
completed by Charles A. Lindbergh; and
Henry Ford first
instituted the 5-day work week and 8-hour work day at his auto
plants.
At the dawn of the decade, in Crowley, Louisiana,
population 7000, a group of business and civic-minded leaders
laid the first brick for “the tallest building between Houston and New
Orleans”---a towering 7-story landmark, which still stands
today as a symbol of First
National
Bank’s strength and unfailing solvency.
On
the first day of April 1924, led by P. L. Lawrence, Sr. as
Chairman of the Board and C. J. Freeland, Sr. as President, the
reorganized
First
National Bank of Acadia at Crowley
re-opened its doors as First
National Bank of Crowley. During
the bank’s first 75 years, only three individuals served as
bank President:
C. J. Freeland, Sr. (1924-1949); Barton W. Freeland, Sr.
(1950-1968); and Richard Seale (1968-1998).
J. Randall Prather, current President and Chief Executive
Officer, continues the tradition of his predecessors by offering
the bank’s customers community style banking, with an emphasis
on personalized service and banking made simple.
For
Crowley, we are a bank of firsts
. . .
first and
only bank to re-open the day after the banking holiday, or
closure, ordered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to prevent
a run on bank currency and deposits (1933) .
. . first
to install drive-in windows, night depository and time and
temperature sign (1968) . . . first
ATMs at 3 locations in Acadia Parish (1984) . . . first to offer Saturday banking (1995) . . . first to add a 24-hour TellerPhone Line (1995) . . .
first to offer
Internet banking (2000).
 We
continue to strive in the new millenium towards progress---but
progress with a personal touch.
Look
for more firsts from
First National Bank--- the first
place to stop for your banking and financial services, and the
last bank you’ll ever need.
First
National Bank looks forward to building long-lasting relationships with
our customers.
And,
as we all know, relationships begin with a strong foundation!
Currently,
First National Bank’s main office is located in the original
“skyscraper,” at the corner of N. Parkerson Avenue and
Second Street in Crowley.
Other bank locations are
North Crowley, Lake Charles, Lafayette and Sulphur, Louisiana.
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