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This Old Rockport Bank Building is no more. The
effects of years and years of neglect finally brought the brick shell down. The two
story building caught fire and was completely gutted on December 26, 1990. For several
years, the eyesore of the gutted building stood until finally wind and weather brought
the bricks tumbling to the ground. A lot of the bricks were collected as souvenirs.
A year or so back the remaining bricks were hauled off. A few of the bricks were
salvaged, but most were used as a fill medium. Now, only a few pictures and memories
of those that witnessed the old building are all that is left. Time is forever; People
and old buildings are not.
In 1870, Henry J. Young purchased Rockport Town Lot
#61. In 1900, he and his wife willed the lot to their daughter and son-in-law, Bill
and Nell Iler. In 1903, the young property owners deeded the lot to the newly formed
corporation, The Rockport Deposit Bank. Instead of cash or other type settlements,
Bill and Nell Iler opted to receive stock shares in the new enterprise. The new bank
opened for business on October 7, 1903 with James Edward Maddox selected as its' first
president.
The Old Bank Building"
An Update.
The following is similar to an earlier write-up about the old bank building in Rockport.
I received a different picture from the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer, as well as some
new information. Thus, I thought that I would share some thoughts with you. The text
is new, but it is of the same nature that was written earlier. The picture is
different. Hope you enjoy.
Many years ago, and after the turn of the twentieth century, a group of men and women
initiated action on forming a new bank for the town of Rockport. It was decided that
a capital investment of fifteen thousand dollars would be needed to start a new bank.
One hundred and fifty shares, at one hundred dollars a share, would be issued. Some of
the new owners bought several shares each and a few people purchased the minimum amount
of one share. The name of the bank was to be Rockport Deposit Bank.
In 1903, the Rockport Deposit Bank bought the old bank building from W. P. and Sadie
Iler. That same year, the new bank opened its' doors and was very successful until
the doors were closed in 1927. For almost twenty-five years, Rockport had a deposit
bank that did well for each of the years it operated. At a meeting of the owners in
1927, the membership voted to resolve and the bank was to be no more. Maybe Rockport
was just not able to keep pace with the larger banks in the area. Beaver Dam and
Hartford were growing at a fast pace and each town had successful and much larger
banks. For whatever reason, Rockport Deposit Bank closed. The corporation dissolved
and the old building was sold to S. L. Keown in November of 1927. Shirley Smith in
her "History of Rockport and Echols Ohio County, Kentucky" has a full page write-up
on the Rockport Deposit Bank. Information from her book was used for the previous
two paragraphs.
For the next twenty years, I am not sure how many tenants the old building had and
what type business venture that operated within its' doors. There were several restaurants
that were opened and each operated for a few years, some even less. There may have
been other business operations. Twenty years is a long period of time, in Rockport
history, for information not be known. In reality, it is known and may be written, it
is just that I am not aware of that particular period. I am sure that others are aware
of the history of the bank building from 1927 to 1947. If anyone knows and wants to
share, please let me know. Note: H. T. Kennedy provided some information that can
be added to the history of the old bank building. From H. T. Kennedy's memory; Charlie
Sanderfur was in business from 1938 to 1940. I am assuming that he operated a restaurant
in those three years. Dewy Elder was also a renter of the Old Bank Building in the mid
forties. Clarence Doss had a barbershop upstairs in the late thirties until about 1941.
Wow, this old building, that is now gone, had some history. Thanks, H. T. for your input.
Adral and Irene Shaw kept a restaurant opened in the building longer than anyone else
that I can remember. They operated their restaurant in the time frame of late 1952
until the late sixties. There are some Rockport residents that proclaim the Shaw's
operated a restaurant in the building in the early forties. I am just not aware of
this period. Thomas and Dorothy Harris and Bill and Irene Tooley are two other couples
that have been mentioned. As deep as the old memory cells in my brain go, I just do not
remember any restaurant operators until the late forties. Thus, a period of history of
the building from 1927 until about 1947 is vacant in my memories. Your help is requested
on this manner and will be appreciated.
I am not sure where I received the following information. It may have been from one
person or a collection of information from various sources. Harold Welborn probably
had some input for the following.
Roy and Myrtle Hoskins, as a team, was one of those entrepreneurs that rented the bank
building and gave the restaurant business a try. I would put this time frame in the
late thirties. In 1939 Johnny and Margaret Welborn tried the restaurant business for
about a year or until Johnny started working for Cherry Hill Mines. In the mid forties,
"Cute" and Imogene Taylor gave it a try and after that, Clifford "Tip" and Lois Cardwell
tried their luck. I don't have any recollection of any operation until Hemon Johnson
rented the building and opened a restaurant. My thoughts are that he rented the entire
building and used the upstairs as a living quarters. This was probably in 1945. I don't
recall those first few years of the Johnson Cafe. My recollections starts in 1947 when
we moved just across the Main Street from the place of business.
I can remember Hemon Johnson's restaurant well. I think that he stayed in the business
for several years. The Johnson's had a son that was a few years younger that the rest
of us, and although he wanted to play with us, he was just a little too young and a
tad too slow. Do remember him spending a lot of "Trike" time on the sidewalks while
we were on bikes. Think that his name may have been Richard, but we called him "Dickey"
and "Dickey Bird".
If you were facing Hemon's Restaurant, there was a concrete block building on the left.
This building was the meeting place and the Church for the "Church of God" members in
the Rockport and Echols area. During this period of time, there were several Churches
on Main Street. I believe that we called this church the Holiness Church. Sister Louise
lived across the street from this church and just up the hill from our house, She, at
one time, was the pastor. Oakley and Bessie Bratcher were active members. So were
"Fuzzy" Bratcher and his wife. This church used stringed music instruments as well as
tambourines and their music and sermons could be heard some several hundred feet from
the church.
To the right of Hemon's Place was a General Mercantile Store owned and operated by
Mrs. Kevil and this store would later be owned and operated by Jamie Reid. Have a
new picture of this old building and will work on a write-up for Kevil's place as
my next project.
I certainly hope that your time was not wasted in the process of looking and reading
at this type material. I enjoyed putting it together. I appreciate all of the help
that was received. A special thanks to the Owensboro-Messenger Newspaper, Shirley
Smith, Harold Welborn, H. T. Kennedy, Betty and Bobby Sublett and especially Hilma
Stewart for their input and information.
See you......
jrd
Picture below, taken in January of 2007
by ddd.
Left Click on picture to reply.
See you......
jrd
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