Avon Park had a bank in 1894, and Crosby was its president
The Florida Railroad Gazetteer and State Business Directory for 1895 records the earliest commercial banking facility in Avon Park, operating under the title of the Bank of Avon Park.[gaz-1895]
| Field | Record |
|---|---|
| Institution | Bank of Avon Park |
| Established | September–October 1894 |
| President | Oliver Marvin Crosby |
| Cashier | Charles C. Chollar |
| Capital Stock | $20,000 |
| Deposits | $5,000 |
Under individual enterprise entries, the directory also lists “Bank of Avon Park, C C Challer cash” and “Chollar C C, banker.”[gaz-1895]
Opening and Operational Quarters
On 21 June 1894, The Redwood Gazette of Redwood Falls, Minnesota, announced that Charles C. Chollar had returned the previous Thursday from a preliminary trip to Avon Park, where he had accepted a position with the Florida Development Company as Cashier of the Bank of Avon Park, scheduled to open for business on 1 October 1894.[redwood-1894-06-21] The subsequent opening of the bank was recorded in the Avon Park Idea and reprinted in The Redwood Gazette on 18 October 1894.[redwood-1894-10-18]
- Opening Date: The institution commenced business in late September or early October 1894, serving settlers and citrus growers across northern DeSoto County.
- Location in Hotel Verona: Due to urgent commercial demand prior to the completion of a planned two-story permanent bank building, the bank opened in temporary quarters within the offices of the Florida Development Company inside the Hotel Verona.[redwood-1894-10-18]
- First Customer: Pioneer resident James R. Skuse made the bank’s first deposit on opening day.[redwood-1894-10-18]
- Cashier’s Journey: Cashier Charles C. Chollar traveled twenty miles by carriage from the railhead at Fort Meade with ledgers and currency following an early October hurricane, swimming team horses across Bowlegs Creek and sheltering overnight at the stage homestead of Mrs. Henry Winegord.[redwood-1894-10-18]
Impact of the Great Freeze and Financial Succession
The establishment of the Bank of Avon Park in late 1894 represented the culmination of Oliver M. Crosby’s promotional program, creating a unified corporate infrastructure that combined townsite land sales, hotel hospitality, commercial banking, and the wooden-railed Avon Park Transportation Company (organized January 1895).
Following the catastrophic freezes of December 1894 and February 1895, the Florida Development Company succumbed to insolvency. Cashier Charles C. Chollar relocated to Arcadia, becoming Cashier of the First National Bank of Arcadia under President Ziba King.[comptroller-1900] Local financial services in Avon Park transitioned to the private storekeeper bank of B. F. West & Son until the chartering of the First National Bank of Avon Park in 1916.
References
- redwood-1894-10-18 — The Redwood Gazette, quoting the Avon Park Idea. A Perilous Trip — Charles Chollar has One From Ft. Meade to Avon Park, The Redwood Gazette (Redwood Falls, Minn.), 18 October 1894, page 2, quoting the Avon Park Idea. 18 October 1894. avon-park-idea-1894-bank-opening.md
- redwood-1894-06-21 — The Redwood Gazette. The Redwood Gazette (Redwood Falls, Minn.), 21 June 1894, page 5: C. C. Chollar accepts position as Cashier of the Bank of Avon Park, to open October 1st. 21 June 1894. https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn85025570/1894-06-21/ed-1/?sp=5
- gaz-1895 — Belden Publishing Company. Florida Railroad Gazetteer and State Business Directory, 1895 — table of Florida banks, and s.v. Avon Park. 1895. florida-business-directories.md
- comptroller-1900 — Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, U.S. Treasury Department. Annual Report of the Comptroller of the Currency, 1900, Vol. 2 — First National Bank of Arcadia, Florida (Charter No. 5534). 3 December 1900. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/annual-report-comptroller-currency-56
Related
- Finding: Charles C. Chollar, the Redwood Falls Origins, and DeSoto County Banking
- Finding: Avon Park’s banks, 1894 to 1929
- Finding: Pioneer private banking and the West family of Avon Park
- Entity: C. C. Chollar
- Entity: Oliver Marvin Crosby
- Entity: Hotel Verona
- Reference: The Avon Park Idea on the opening of the Bank of Avon Park, October 1894
Where this comes from
- Evidence
- corroborated — More than one independent source agrees.
- Review
- unverified — Drafted from sources but not yet checked by a volunteer.
- Rights
- society
Sources
- The Redwood Gazette, quoting the Avon Park Idea, A Perilous Trip — Charles Chollar has One From Ft. Meade to Avon Park, The Redwood Gazette (Redwood Falls, Minn.), 18 October 1894, page 2, quoting the Avon Park Idea (1894)
- The Redwood Gazette, The Redwood Gazette (Redwood Falls, Minn.), 21 June 1894, page 5: C. C. Chollar accepts position as Cashier of the Bank of Avon Park, to open October 1st (1894) · newspaper
- Belden Publishing Company, Florida Railroad Gazetteer and State Business Directory, 1895 — table of Florida banks, and s.v. Avon Park (1895)
- Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, U.S. Treasury Department, Annual Report of the Comptroller of the Currency, 1900, Vol. 2 — First National Bank of Arcadia, Florida (Charter No. 5534) (1900)
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