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Barnett Bank of Highlands County records, 1925-1981.
Amount:
6.00 v. 0.75 cubic ft.
Medium Included:
Organization/Arrangement:
By record type, then chronological by year.
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Biographical/Historical:
Tropical State Bank began operations in October 1925 in Lake Stearns, now Lake Placid, Florida. In 1929, Consolidated Naval Stores purchased control of the bank as well as approximately one-third of Barnett's stock. This made Consolidated, outside of the Barnett Family, the largest stockholder through the 1970's.
After the Highlands County Bank closed its doors during the national banking moratorium in March 1933 and failed to open again, a group of Sebring citizens requested Tropical State Bank to move to a more central location. On May 7, 1934, the bank moved to Sebring. The Bank later changed its name to Tropical Bank & Trust Company of Sebring (TB&TCS).
In 1963, Guy W. Botts was President and CEO of the Barnett Banks in Jacksonville, Florida. At that time, Florida's banking laws prohibited branch banking and kept the state's banks relatively small. To be competitive, Botts developed a 10-year plan for expansion and concentrated on developing a network of Banks throughout Florida. His approach was to use the existing holding company, Barnett National Securities Corporation, to acquire or establish banks in each of the 20 most populous counties in Florida.
In 1965, Botts announced a plan for Barnett National Securities Corporation, which had been a subsidiary of the Jacksonville bank, to become the parent company by purchasing the stock of the Barnett First National Bank of Jacksonville. This gave Botts greater flexibility in using the holding company to purchase additional banks. In 1969, Barnett National Securities Corporation became Barnett Banks of Florida, Inc. On July 1, 1970, Barnett Banks of Florida, Inc. acquired Tropical Bank & Trust Company of Sebring and renamed it Barnett Bank of Sebring in 1971. On January 2, 1978, Barnett Bank of Sebring and Barnett Bank of Lake Placid (opened on May 4, 1974) merged to form Barnett Bank of Highlands County. In 1992, Barnett Bank of Highlands County acquired the Arcadia Branch from the Barnett Bank of Southwest Florida. In 1993, it acquired assets and liabilities associated with 2 branch offices of First Florida Bank.
Summary:
The collection documents the organization, operations and activities of Tropical State Bank, later Barnett Bank of Highlands County. It consists of minute books from 1927 to 1942, including minutes of directors' meetings, annual meetings of the shareholders, and statements of condition. The collection also contains general ledgers from 1925 to 1931, showing daily balance of resources and liabilities; stockholders ledger from 1925 to 1981, listing shareholders' names and their transactions with other shareholders and companies; stock certificate books issued by Tropical State Bank and Tropical Bank & Trust Co. of Sebring from 1925 to 1980, detailing the number of shares of Common Stock owned by the shareholders; employees' booklet of Tropical State Bank, detailing the history of the bank and the bank's personnel policy; and newspaper clippings about the bank's new building in 1961.
Finding Aids:
Folder listing available. 0
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General Note:
This collection was arranged and described from materials obtained from Barnett Banks, Inc. when the Barnett Bank records were transferred to the Florida State Archives between 1999 and 2002.
Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields:
Botts, Guy Warren, 1914-1993
Barnett Bank of Highlands County Barnett Bank of Lake Placid Barnett Bank of Sebring Barnett Banks of Florida Barnett National Securities Corporation (Jacksonville, Fla.) Tropical Bank & Trust Company of Sebring Tropical State Bank
Bank holding companies Florida. Bank management Florida. Bank mergers Florida Banks and banking History Florida. Stock certificates Stocks
Minutes. aat Ledgers Clippings. aat
Highlands County (Fla.) Sebring (Fla.)
Added Entries
Tropical State Bank
Tropical Bank & Trust Company of Sebring
Barnett Bank of Sebring
Barnett Bank of Lake Placid
for detailed listing.