Bank of Brewton
Side A
Recognized as “Alabama’s Oldest Bank,” the Bank
of Brewton opened for business on Monday, January 7, 1899. Brewton, Alabama was a prosperous town in the late 1800s. A local resident, Charles Sowell, participated in the flourishing times. A native of Monroe County, Alabama and a wounded veteran of the Civil War, Sowell settled in Brewton. After a brief stint as a railroad station agent, he began a timber industry that produced a sizeable fortune. In 1880 Sowell commented, “If I take all my gold and silver and put it on a wagon, two mules could not pull it. We need a bank.” Sowell started organizing the bank that would be the first bank in Escambia County, Alabama and the first bank between Mobile and Montgomery.Side B
The Bank of Brewton was initially a private bank in 1889, but received a state charter in 1891. Its original location was a few doors from this spot. In 1912 the bank moved into a building at this
site, acquired an adjacent building known as the
Lovelace Hotel in 1957 and constructed a new building in its place in 1964. The bank of Brewton had only 11 presidents in the first 119 years of its existence. The quality of labor of its early leaders and the support of local citizens is what has established the historic value of the institution.
Marker is at the intersection of South Blvd (U.S. 29) and Belleville Ave, on the right when traveling south on South Blvd.
Courtesy hmdb.org
