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In 1963, Guy Warren Botts became President and Chief Executive Officer of Barnett Banks in Jacksonville, Florida. Botts he concentrated on developing a network of banks throughout Florida. His approach was to use the existing holding company, Barnett National Securities Corporation (BSNC), to acquire or establish banks in each of the 20 most populous counties in Florida. From 1966 to 1976, Barnett purchased 34 banks and obtained new bank charters for an additional 19 banks. In 1969, the name of the holding company changed to Barnett Banks of Florida, Inc. to better reflect a common identity, and the individual bank names all changed to Barnett Bank of [city or county]. By 1979, Barnett Banks had opened its 100th banking office.
Barnett Banks, Inc. continued to expand throughout Florida and into Georgia, and in March 1993 acquired First Florida Banks, Inc. This made Barnett Banks, Inc. the largest banking organization in Florida and the 18th largest in the United States. In 1997 in a $15.5 billion-dollar deal, the largest in the history of banking industry at that time, NationsBank acquired Barnett Banks, Inc. Subsequently, in 1999, NationsBank and BankAmerica merged to form a national bank, Bank of America.
Summary:
This collection contains a variety of historical documents, annual reports, statements of condition, magazine articles, newsletters, press releases, newspaper clippings, brochures, photographs, and miscellaneous materials detailing the history of several of the affiliate Barnett Banks, although not all of them. The affiliates documented in this collection are the Barnett Banks of Fort Myers, Naples, Ocala, Marion County, and Tampa. These establishments maintained extensive newspaper clippings that detail the history of the bank, mergers with Barnett Banks, Inc., obituaries of many of the founding bank officials, history of the banking industry in a given geographic location, and general economic conditions in Florida.
This collection appears to have been assembled as part of an internal Barnett Historical Preservation Project commissioned by Allen Lastinger, with David Ginzl as coordinator responsible for gathering this material.
Finding Aids:
Folder listing available. 0
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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:
Barnett Banks
Bank buildings Florida Bank directors Florida. Bank management Florida. Bank marketing Florida. Bank mergers Florida Banks and banking History Florida.
Added Entries
Botts, Guy Warren, 1914-1993
Barnett Bank of Central Florida, National Association
Barnett Bank of North Central Florida
Barnett Bank of Fort Myers
Barnett Bank of Ocala, National Association
Barnett Bank of Tampa
Citizens and Peoples National Bank of Pensacola (Pensacola, Fla.)
for detailed listing.