A History of Banks in North Omaha

There’s a misunderstanding that North Omaha has never had banks. However, my research shows there have been several throughout the community over the years. Two banks served neglected and denied people, two served an Old West town, and one institution survived a little while by chasing the white flight. This is a history of seven banking and financial institutions established in North Omaha since 1856.

Adam’s note: I am only including banks established in North Omaha to serve North Omaha, which I count as anything north of Dodge Street to the Washington County line, and east of North 72nd Street to the river. Do you have information I should have? Leave a comment on this article or contact me.

Banks in North Omaha’s Past

Bank of Florence 8502 North 30th Street North Omaha Nebraska — Built in 1856, this is the Bank of Florence at 8502 North 30th Street.

There have been at least twelve banks established in North Omaha throughout the history of the community. They included the Bank of Florence, the State Bank of Florence, the Farmers State Bank of Florence, the Metropolitan Building and Loan Association, Commercial State Bank of Omaha, the Carver Savings and Loan Association, the Franklin Community Credit Union, the Ames Plaza Bank, the Citizens Community Development Federal Credit Union, and the Community Bank of Nebraska.

In the course of the community’s history, there have been at least five Black-led financial institutions, including one started in 2020.

The timeline of banks in North Omaha is interesting too, and reflects the larger trend of white flight: When white people divested en masse from North Omaha in the early 1960s, banks stopped existing in the community, too. There were some developments that bucked that trend, but the reality is that no brand new institutions have been opened in North Omaha since 1962.

Read on for a thorough walk-through of this expensive, extensive history!

Wildcat Investors in the Old West

This is an original 1856 banknote from the Bank of Florence, Nebraska Territory. — This is an original 1856 banknote from Cook, Sargent & Parker aka the Bank of Florence, Nebraska Territory.

The first bank in North Omaha is one of the most notable in the entire city, and one of the most noted banks in the history of Nebraska.

Operated by a Davenport, Iowa, firm called Cook, Sargent and Parker, the Bank of Florence was established in 1856 and notoriously busted in 1857. (The Nebraska State Historical Society apparently has paperwork indicating notes related to this bank going back to 1848 and relating to its incorporation from 1853.) Apparently important to the settlement of the city of Florence, the bank funded a lot of people and businesses in those early years but went broke because of a national financial panic that caused a run on the bank.

The building was operated as the Bank of Florence afterward by James M. Parker, one of the original partners, and the original company retained its ownership until around 1868. The building stayed open for a long time and had different jobs, but was also left to rot for more than a decade at the end of the century.

Suburban Theatre, North Omaha, Nebraska — This is the west side of North 24th Street just south of Ames around 1905. The Saratoga Bank might have been located in one of these buildings.

At the same time the Bank of Florence was launched, there was supposedly a wildcat bank established in the town of Saratoga, which was located at 24th and Grand Avenue. However, I have not found evidence of this bank in more than a decade of research. If you know of some, please share.

A noted attempt to start a bank outside of Florence and the Near North Side happed in 1887. That year, an association was formed to start a financial institution for the Saratoga neighborhood at 24th and Ames. Their articles of incorporation say, “The general nature of the business to be transacted by this corporation shall be to buy and sell real estate, buy and build houses, rent or sell the same; to lease its property whether vacant or with buildings; to borrow or loan money, and give or take mortgages or other writings to secure the payment thereof.” It didn’t happen.

In 1890, Citizens Bank opened at North 24th and Cuming Streets, but closed in 1894. During this era Bank of Commerce was located in the Jefferson Square neighborhood at North 16th and California, as was the Douglas County Bank at North 16th and Chicago.

In nearly 50 years, North Omaha hadn’t established any permanent financial institutions. However, the next 50 would reverse that for almost everyone in the community.

New Century, New Banks

City of Florence Main Street, N. 30th and Clay Streets, North Omaha, Nebraska — This is a 1916 image of Main Street in the city of Florence. Today this is North 30th Street looking south from Clay Street. The Farmers State Bank of Florence at 30th and Clay is shown on the left.

The State Bank of Florence opened up next at the old Florence Bank building in 1904. Staying at 8502 North 30th Street, it was quickly reinstated as an important community institution. It was first re-incorporated by John S. Paul, R.M. Olmstead, and others in 1904, and then in 1909, the bank was sold to John D. Brisbin, H.T. Brisbin and others. It was reopened in its original location and renamed the State Bank of Florence aka the New Bank of Florence. Brisbin served as the president. In 1917, Brisbin retired and Tom R. Riley took over.

In 1909, the Farmers State Bank of Florence opened at 8613 North 30th Street on the corner of 30th and Clay. Incorporated by William R. Wall (1865-1951), Soren C. Pedersen, John F. Finley and Sarah Wall, the Farmers State bank had $25,000 capital, and their original address was 1513 Main Street. Soon after its opening Frank T. Parker, grandson of James M. Parker, invested in the bank.

An Omaha World-Herald newspaper report from 1910 said that the two banks in Florence “had $116,287.17 in deposits and $166,582.11 in loans and discounts at the close of business November 10.”

In 1912, Harry E. Lewis bought out Parker. In 1913, it was reorganized and W.R. Wall was kept as the president. George F. Kritenbrink was the owner of the bank. According to the newspaper, the very first daylight bank robbery in Nebraska happened at the Bank of Florence in 1916. In 1918, the Farmers State Bank changed its name to the Commercial State Bank of Florence.

Charles A. Sunderlin was president of the Commercial State Bank in 1918. In 1922, a bank robber got $1,800 from the Commercial State Bank. However, after the institution was tied to a failing bank in another town in Nebraska in 1922, it failed in 1926 and was taken over by the State Bank of Florence. It wasn’t officially liquidated until 1947.

This was the sign for the Metropolitan Building and Loan Association located at N. 61st and Military Avenue in the Benson neighborhood of North Omaha.

The Metropolitan Building and Loan Association, or MLBA, was established in 1922 in the Saratoga neighborhood at 24th and Ames. Their goal then was to, “furnish banking facilities to the fast growing factory section of the city and will afford means for conducting savings accounts,” and their vision was that members would pool their money and share in the profits of savings and loans made for buildings in North Omaha. Identifying that there were no other banks between Florence and downtown, they sought to fill the hole.

In 1928, there were two holdups at the Metro Building Loan Association within a month of each other, supposedly by different men. The Omaha Police Department caught the wrong man the second time after LeRoy Brown, the manager of the bank, shot the man. In 1929, the institution opened a branch in Benson on Military Avenue at 2739 North 61st Street. Soon after, the Nebraska Legislature passed a law to make the MBLA immune to federal insurance requirements instituted after the 1929 stock market crash. Instead of the FDIC insurance, it relied on “substantial reserves, in-person home appraisals, reviews by state banking officials, personal knowledge of borrowers’ finances and regular notices to its depositors of its uninsured status.” It was the only banking institution in Nebraska without federal deposit insurance.

The Great Depression closed the State Bank of Florence folded in 1930. After reorganizing in 1932, the bank plodded along. In 1939 the Bank of Florence changed its name to North Side Bank.

Wartime Banking Changes

North Side Bank, 4526 North 30th Street, North Omaha, Nebraska. This design is by Everett Dodd. — North Side Bank, 4526 North 30th Street, North Omaha, Nebraska. This design is by Everett S. Dodds.

During World War II, several developments happened in North Omaha’s fiscal markets. The financial center of the community informally shifted from Florence to 30th and Ames, and Black people finally had an institution of their own to bank at.

It was 1941 when the North Side Bank moved out of Florence all together when it opened its first shop in the bustling commercial intersection of 30th and Ames. Over the next 30 years the North Side Bank moved three times to new buildings around that same intersection.

That same year, in 1941, a group of African American community leaders opened the first-ever Black-owned financial institution in the state. Carver Savings and Loan Association was located at 2416 Lake Street in the heart of Omaha’s Black community. Providing home loans, savings facilities, and investment opportunities, “Carver Bank” offered services that weren’t available to Black people in Omaha at all before it existed.

Between 1947 and 1948, the same man held up the MBLA twice for almost $3,500 and was never caught. Then, in 1950, a husband and wife team held up the MLBA. The owner shot the woman before the couple got any cash, and soon after little Tommy Catron of 2222 Ames Avenue was commended for quick thinking when he wrote down the license plate of a getaway car. Tommy got a citation from the police and the would-be robbers were later caught.

In 1960, the Carver Savings and Loan Association board of directors included Charles B. Mayo, Mrs. Charles F. Davis, cashier-bookkeeper; Mrs. Elizabeth Davis Pittman, Wendell Thomas, vice-president; Dr. A.B. Pittman, president; Harbery Mayberry, Ralph W. Adams, secretary-treasurer; Elmer Gant, Herbert Richardson, and Chasley Pierce.

The main office of the MBLA was robbed again in 1960, this time getting more than $1,600. They were never caught. In 1962, the Brodkey family of Omaha opened the Ames Plaza Bank at 5908 Ames Avenue in a new shopping mall of the same name. In 1964, Ames Plaza Bank reported $5,213,016 in deposits, up almost $2million from the prior year.

The Carver Bank closed permanently in 1965.

New Financial Power

North Side Bank Omaha 1971 — This is a 1971 pic from inside the North Side Bank at North 31st and Ames Avenue. Image courtesy of the Durham Museum.

After rioting struck the Near North Side neighborhood from 1966 to 1969, community leaders became determined to create financial opportunities for African Americans again.

In January 1969, the Franklin Community Credit Union opened to focus on North Omaha’s Black community and build equity in homes and businesses. Originally opened at the Wesley House, later that year it got its own headquarters at 3317 Decatur Street in a renovated house. Its membership was originally limited to residents of the area bound by 24th and 42nd Streets from Cuming to Bedford Avenue. Alfred Thomas was its first executive director. Within a few years, the organization moved into their permanent location at 1723 North 33rd Street. Lawrence King, a young Black businessman in Omaha when he was hired to be the leader of the Franklin Community Credit Union in 1970, said he led a struggling organization when he started. In 1970, the Ames Plaza Bank was robbed by two men who got an undisclosed amount of cash. A security guard was shot, but the robbers were later captured and sentenced to the Nebraska State Penitentiary.

Rodney Wead and Johnny Rogers in 1971. — This is a 1971 image of Rodney S. Wead (right) presenting an award to Johnny Rogers. Image courtesy of the Durham Museum.

In 1971, the Community Bank of Nebraska was established at 5180 Ames Avenue by social entrepreneur Rodney S. Wead. Wead, the leader of the Wesley House, was determined to build Black excellence in the community and established this financial institution to support it. Leon E. Evans, Jr. was the president and CEO there. The Ames Plaza Bank moved away from its original location to North 72nd and Ames in 1971, and that same year the North Side Bank built its final structure at 3147 Ames Avenue on the southeast corner of North 31st and Ames.

The Franklin Community Credit Union opened a South Omaha branch in 1975 to expand its outreach. The MLBA was robbed of more than $1,500 in a holdup that year.

A firm called the Preferred Management Corporation took control of the North Side Bank in 1977. In 1978, four men robbed almost $14,000 from the Community Bank of Nebraska.

Troubles at the Franklin Community Federal Credit Union were traced back to 1982 according to a presentation by a federal credit union regulator. In 1983, Franklin Community Credit Union claimed it was worth $1million. The Benson office of the MLBA was held up again in 1983. In 1985, North Side Bank changed its name again to Northern Bank. James A. Hansen was the bank’s president that year, and they reportedly had assets of $62.5 million and $56 million in deposits.

This was the home of the Franklin Community Credit Union at 1723 N. 33rd St. in North Omaha. The institution existed from 1969 to 1988; the building still stands today.

In early 1988, Franklin Community Credit Union claimed its value at $2.5million. However, it closed dramatically after allegations against its leader including embezzlement of over $30million by federal regulators. King was later implicated in terrible child prostitution accusations. Federal officials operated the credit union in a temporary office in the Zorinsky Federal Building, then closed the doors permanently. Members protested, attesting to the vital importance of the institution, but it was gone forever.

In 1992, the Community Bank of Nebraska was closed and merged into Norwest Bank Nebraska and stopped existing. In 1993, the Citizens Community Development Federal Credit Union opened “to fill a void” in the North Omaha community. it was located at one-time site of the Opportunities Industrialization Center, 2724 North 24th Street. Chaired by Michael B. Maroney, it closed in 1996 and ended up merging with Mutual First Federal Credit Union.

American National Bank opened a branch at North 31st and Ames around 2000. In 2016, the Metropolitan Building and Loan Association was sold to Dundee Bank and closed permanently. The MBLA never offered checking accounts or ATMs, only making small home loans with never more than $1,000,000 in assets. At the end, there were fewer than 100 customers. It was the last state-chartered savings and loan in Nebraska.

Renewing Economic Power

North Omaha Arts Alliance, 2416 Lake Street, North Omaha, Nebraska. — This was an announcement for the North Omaha Arts Alliance to take over the Carver Bank in October 2016.

The fossilized footprints of some of these institutions are still in North Omaha today. For instance, the Bank of Florence was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969, and the Carvers Savings and Loan was added in 2016 as part of the 24th and Lake Historic District. Luckily though, the impact of these banks is more than physical leftovers.

Maybe the most on-point transformation honors the intention of some of the community’s historical leaders: Starting in 2020, the building that housed Carver Savings and Loan has been home to Carver Legacy Center, a Black-led financial collaborative center, a joint venture founded in partnership with American National Bank. It offers Black Omahans “many benefits that only a big bank can offer, while still offering the personalized service of a single location focused on doing more for the wealth of Black communities.”

Perhaps in the future more financial institutions will realize the fiscal value in supporting North Omaha’s historical roots, building new banks in the community and helping preserve the community’s history. Until then, please enjoy the timeline and directory of historic banks below.

Please share your comments below!

North Omaha Bank Timeline

1856: The Bank of Florence was founded.
1860: The Bank of Florence closed.
1887: An group of Saratoga businessmen proposed starting a financial institute at 24th and Ames but it didn’t work.
1890: Citizens Bank opened at North 24th and Cuming Streets
1894: Citizens Bank closed permanently.
1909: The Bank of Florence was reopened as the State Bank of Florence.
1913: The Farmers State Bank opened in Florence.
1922: The Metropolitan Building and Loan Association was established at 24th and Ames.
1922: The Farmers State Bank was renamed the Commercial State Bank of Omaha.
1927: The State Bank of Florence bought Commercial State Bank of Omaha.
1929: The MBLA opens its Benson branch.
1930: The State Bank of Florence closed in 1930 because of the Depression
1932: The State Bank of Florence reopened.
1939: The State Bank of Florence changed its name to the North Side Bank.
1941: The Carver Savings and Loan Association was opened at 2416 Lake St.
1941: The North Side Bank moved out of Florence all together when it opened its first shop at 30th and Ames.
1959: The MLBA moved into their building at 2739 North 61st Street in Benson.
1965: The Carver Savings and Loan Association was closed permanently.
1966: The MLBA closed their Saratoga location at 24th and Ames permanently.
1969: The Franklin Community Credit Union was established.
1971: The North Side Bank moved to three different buildings around 30th and Ames until this year, when they opened their Midcentury Modern (MCM) style building this year.
1971: Community Bank of Nebraska was established.
1975: The Ames Plaza Bank moved to 72nd and Ames.
1985: The North Side Bank changed its name to Northern Bank.
1988: The Franklin Community Credit Union failed and its operations were taken over by the federal government. It was permanently closed.
1991: The Community Bank of Nebraska was merged into Norwest Bank Nebraska.
1993: Citizens Community Development Federal Credit Union opened in the OIC building on 24th Street.
1994: Northern Bank was sold to American National Bank.
1996: Ames Plaza Bank was closed and merged to become Premier Bank.
1996: The Citizens Community Development Federal Credit Union closed and merged with another credit union.
2000: American National Bank built a new branch at North 31st and Ames Avenue and continue operating there as of 2024.
2016: The MLBA was sold to another bank and closed permanently.
2020: The Carver Legacy Center opened at 2416 Lake St.

Directory of Historic North Omaha Financial Institutions

Bank of Florence (1856-1860), 8502 N. 30th St.
State Bank of Florence (1904-1930; 1932-1941), 8502 N. 30th St.
Farmers State Bank of Florence (1909-1922), 8613 N. 30th St.
Metropolitan Building and Loan Association (1922-2016), 4508 N. 24th St.
Commercial State Bank of Omaha (1922-1927), 8613 N. 30th St.
North Side Bank (1941-1995), 3147 Ames Ave.
Carver Savings and Loan Association (1941-1965), 2416 Lake St.
Franklin Community Credit Union (1969-1988), 1723 N. 33rd St.
Ames Plaza Bank (1961-1975), 5908 Ames Ave.
Citizens Community Development Federal Credit Union (1993-1996), 2724 N. 24th St.
Community Bank of Nebraska (1971-1991), 5180 Ames Ave

Special thanks to Jeff Barnes for inspiring this article!

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Elsewhere Online

Carver Legacy Center official website