First National Bank

In the record (16)

1. 1922

   The building originally known as the Realty Building was renamed the Independence Building after the Independence Trust Company took occupancy, cementing its identity as an uptown Charlotte banking landmark.

   Bank of North CarolinaIndependent Trust CompanyFederal Reserve

   Source · checked 2026-08-13

2. 1927

   A Federal Reserve branch bank opened in uptown Charlotte in 1927, part of a wave of specialized banking construction that accompanied the decade's skyscraper boom and reinforced Charlotte's emerging identity as a regional financial center.

   Bank of North CarolinaIndependent Trust CompanyFederal Reserve

   Source · checked 2026-08-13

3. 1927

   The First National Bank Building at 112 South Tryon Street, designed by prominent Charlotte architect Louis H. Asbury with engineering by Lockwood, Greene and Company, was constructed in 1926-1927 for First National Bank under president Henry M. McAden and was proclaimed the tallest building in the Carolinas upon its 1927 completion.

   Robert HenryWilliam TryonLouis H. AsburyHenry M. McAden

   Source · checked 2026-08-13

4. 1930 · 1930-12-04

   First National Bank of Charlotte, weakened by an expensive 21-story skyscraper (completed 1927 for $1.8 million and only 30% occupied three years later) and holding just $1.6 million in deposits — the least of the city's seven commercial banks — announced it was closing its doors.

   Unverified — sourced but not confirmed against a primary record.

   Source · checked 2026-08-13

5. 1979

   NCNB reaches about $6 billion in total assets and operates 172 banking offices.

   Unverified — sourced but not confirmed against a primary record.

   Bank of North CarolinaIndependent Trust CompanyFederal Reserve

   Source · checked 2026-08-13

6. 1981

   NCNB identified a loophole in Florida banking law: because it had owned the Trust Company of Florida (Orlando) since before December 20, 1972, Florida law permitted it — as a pre-existing out-of-state owner of a Florida trust company — to acquire additional Florida banks, despite federal law otherwise barring interstate banking. This 'nonbank bank'/trust-company strategy became the basis for NCNB's pioneering interstate expansion.

   Bank of North CarolinaIndependent Trust CompanyFederal Reserve

   Source · checked 2026-08-13

7. 1982

   NCNB acquired First National Bank of Lake City, Florida (about $24 million in assets) — NCNB's first out-of-state bank acquisition and one of the first genuine interstate bank expansions in the modern United States, made possible by the trust-company loophole strategy.

   Source · checked 2026-08-13

8. 1982 · 1982-03-18

   NCNB Corporation agreed to acquire Gulfstream Banks Inc. of Boca Raton, Florida, one of its first moves establishing a Florida banking franchise under the trust-company loophole strategy.

   Unverified — sourced but not confirmed against a primary record.

   Bank of North CarolinaIndependent Trust CompanyFederal Reserve

   Source · checked 2026-08-13

9. 1982 · 1982-08-26

   The NCNB-Gulfstream Banks link was finalized; contemporaneous reporting explains the legal mechanism explicitly: 'Florida law allows out-of-state banks that owned Florida institutions before Dec. 20, 1972, to acquire Florida banks, and NCNB owned the Trust Company of Florida, Orlando, before that date' — the specific 'trust company loophole' that let NCNB become a pioneer of interstate banking ahead of federal deregulation.

   Unverified — sourced but not confirmed against a primary record.

   Bank of North CarolinaIndependent Trust CompanyFederal Reserve

   Source · checked 2026-08-13

10. 1984

    Ed Crutchfield became CEO of First Union Bank; at the time First Union had about $7 billion in assets. He added the title of chairman the following year (1985), the same year First Union began expanding into Florida under the regional interstate banking compact — kicking off Crutchfield's decades-long, aggressive acquisition-driven growth strategy.

    Bank of North CarolinaIndependent Trust CompanyFederal Reserve

    Source · checked 2026-08-13

11. 1991 · 1991-06-27

    NCNB Corporation announced an agreement to merge with C&S/Sovran Corporation (the Atlanta/Norfolk holding company for Citizens & Southern National Bank and Sovran Bank), creating a combined company with roughly $116-118 billion in assets and the nation's second-largest banking company at the time; the combined entity took the name NationsBank.

    Bank of North CarolinaIndependent Trust CompanyFederal Reserve

    Source · checked 2026-08-13

12. 1995

    First Union Corporation acquired First Fidelity Bancorporation of Newark, New Jersey, establishing First Union as a major banking player in the Northeastern United States.

    Bank of North CarolinaIndependent Trust CompanyFederal Reserve

    Source · checked 2026-08-13

13. 1998

    Following the 1998 NationsBank-BankAmerica merger and First Union's CoreStates megadeal, Charlotte became home to two of the country's largest bank holding companies, giving the city the largest concentration of bank holding company assets of any US city except New York — the basis for Charlotte's enduring claim to be the 'second-largest banking center in the United States,' a ranking measured by assets held by locally headquartered bank holding companies rather than by deposits, branch count, or employment.

    Bank of North CarolinaIndependent Trust CompanyFederal Reserve

    Source · checked 2026-08-13

14. 1998

    The 1998 NationsBank–BankAmerica merger was valued at approximately $62 billion (about $122.5 billion in inflation-adjusted terms), creating what was then the largest banking institution in the nation.

    Bank of North CarolinaIndependent Trust CompanyFederal Reserve

    Source · checked 2026-08-13

15. 1998 · 1998-04-30

    First Union Corporation acquired Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co., a Charlotte-based investment bank, adding to its investment-banking capabilities during its 1998 acquisition spree.

    Unverified — sourced but not confirmed against a primary record.

    Bank of North CarolinaIndependent Trust CompanyFederal Reserve

    Source · checked 2026-08-13

16. 2008 · 2008-09-29

    On September 29, 2008, Citigroup agreed in an FDIC-assisted transaction to acquire Wachovia's banking operations, a deal that valued Wachovia stock at approximately $1 per share, days after the September 25-26, 2008 seizure of Washington Mutual underscored the severity of the banking crisis.

    Bank of North CarolinaIndependent Trust CompanyFederal Reserve

    Source · checked 2026-08-13