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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 1955)
rOTOTTES UZUrOKD fOlWOOm MAIL TTU3UH1 rltM Modern Building To Be Shown Off 10 a.m. fo 8 p.m. Mayor Miller Slates ; I: Cutting of Ribbon Open house at the -modern new quarters of. the Medford branch of First National Bank ' of Portland will be held all day " Monday, from 10 a.m.' to 8 p.m. There will be flower for the 'ladies, refreshments for - all ' C B. Stephenson president i of In First National Bank of ; Portland, will : be the guest ; speaker at the, Monday 'noon Y Chamber of Commerce forum i meeting at the Jackson hotel. The bank president who : heads the largest bank in the Pacific Northwest, will discuss . business conditions and pros pects for 1955. : He will also be a guest on Southern Oregon Roundtable television program at 6:30 pja. today. . guests, tours of the entire facili ty including the vault, organ music and searchlights during the evening. The grand opening ceremonies . for the expanding bank will get under way at 9:45 a.m. with a ribbon cutting ceremony by May or Earl Miller set for 10 a.m. Music for the ceremonies will be supplied by the Medford High school band. New Address The new building is located . on the corner of Main and Front sts., a block west of the old site. The addess is 1 East Main st. First National President C. B. Stephenson, Viee-Pr e s i d e n t George. M. Henderson, head of the . business development de partment. Vice - President and Trust Officer John Adams and other administrative officers of the bank's Portland head office will be in Medford for the grand opening. . - : -C: Refreshments will include doughnuts, cake, coffee and punch. Each woman visitor will be presented a vanda orchid. The organ music will be sup plied throughout the day by Abby Greene, of the Rogue Val ley Country club. Largest Branch Building The new half million dollar, two-story structure, is the larg est building occupied entirely by a branch in the statewide First National system; The new building is of rein forced concrete construction, fin ished with Roman brick veneer and dark granite. It is more than three times the size of the present bank quarters, which the branch has occupied for 20 years. The modern building features an. increased number of tellers windows, two of the popular drive-in banking windows which allow customers to bank directly from their autos, a large park ing lot to the rear of the block and more safe deposit boxes in an all-new enlarged vault. ' Offices on Second Floor The second floor area is oc cupied by the branch's , trust department, the bookkeeping de partment, employee lunchroom, two conference rooms' and men's and women's lounges." The sec ond floor is served by customer and freight elevators. ' Construction began on the structure one year ago, under the direction of Reimers and Jolivette, Portland building con tractors. Plans for the new bank were prepared by Church, New berry and Roehr, Portland arch tectual firm. ; (k f kllB '" I MOVING DAY T. ' J.' Hauer, assistant coor dinator for branches of the First National Bank- of Portland, whose office is in the. Medford branch, and his secretary, Mrs. Rob ert Meyers, are shown moving in" to 'their n&Mmm mszmtims . -9 . ... -in i.ir j a i SPARKLING NEW INTERIOR Shown above is a view of the interior of the new . Medford branch of the Fiirt National Bank . of Portland, which will be dedicated and opened for business and public inspection at - f NEW AUTO BANKING Elwood Hedberg, manager of the Med ford branch of ;the First National Bank of Portland, demonstrates how the new auto-banking windows, at the rear of the new branch building, will work when they go ing him is Mrs. Clarence H. Redmond, a collections teller at trie bank. A sliding drawer permits mobiles, but protects bank employees from chilly breezes. The two auto-banking windows are located just off the bank's parking lot, which is on Front and Sixth Moving Bank Office 1 1 aa'SaiaaI Employees Most people probably have no idea of the logistical prdblems involved in moving;-a bank to a new location without loss' of nor mal service to "customers, but Elwood Hedberg, manager of the Medford, branch of First National Bank of -Portland could probably give them all something to think about this week. Today, from ' the hours long before daybreak until late to night, Hedberg will be directing theumoving of the major portion of the Medford branch of First National into its large new build ing a block west of the present location. ' :: ' Began Two Weeks Ago Actually, the 'moving job be gan two weeks ago, and isn't ex pected to be completed until shortly before the bank opens Monday morning in its expanded new location, Hedberg said. One of the greatest problems involved in moving the bank from, one building to the other is the valuable contents : of the vault. Numerous security - mess- as into operation tomorrow. Serv the taking of deposits from auto sts (Brainerd. photo) Discover ures and extreme care must , be taken to protect the public property-in the' safe deposit boxes, and the bank's coin and curren cy. The great weight of the units of safe deposit boxes add to the moving problem. ' l -rJ. ; There are 34 units or nests, as the bankers call them of safe deposit boxes to move from the old vault to the new one. They weigh between.. 250 'and 1,500 pounds each, and must be han dled with heavy duty mechanical equipment. ; ' : V -; : " Policemen on Duty - r : A number of city and state po licemen will be on duty in the district surrounding ; the bank while ' the moving is under way, and will be in both bank build ings to discourage anyone who might be getting malicious ideas. v The first contents of the old bank to be moved were the per manent records, which date back a half century, and supplies to operate the bann in the new structure. Included in the tons of "dead Problem new 'quarters last week. Moving to the new -; building ; has been underway for about two weeks, and is being completed today, in time for tt(e official opening .tomorrow. . (Braiaerd photo) ipiinig ff feu FDirgt CJkiifiiigil f arab $mmk " i- . ......... 10 a.m. tomorrow. At. the left are banking, windows, 7 and in the : background are the -desks of officers of the bank. At right are more banking windows. The view is south ward, toward the main entrance on Front st. I ' : -'.'- (Brainerd photo) Banking on Will Be Shown : A-technicolor motion picture, 'The Banking Story," will be shown throughout the day Mon day in conjunction with the open house celebration of the expand ing Medford branch of First National Bank of Portland. The movie will be shown on the base ment floor of the new1 building. .produced under, the supervi sion of the bank, the movie depicts the rapid progress and growth of, Oregon. It shows the major roles played by industry, commerce and' agriculture in the development of our state, and the fashion in which mod ern banking contributes to our economic welfare. ; ; storage' already moved into the storage vaults of the new bank are copies of all deposit state ments ever sent out from the bank, all savings withdrawal records, undelivered checks, safe deposit records, and other rec ords which a bank must keep permanently. There are ' also many other records which must be kept for various periods up to 20 years. Mova Machines :;. 1 About 50 machines had to be moved alter tne banging day is completed Saturday,' and each must be in operation again on Monday morning by 9 a.m. in the new building. ; The only exception to this is the huge check sorting, machin ery. These machines Vere moved Friday evening and set up in op eration in he new building Sat urday morning. This will necessi tate bringing all the checks that are handled in the old bank on Saturday to the new bank : lor sorting, and then returning them to the old building for dispatch to other banks and the branche's bookkeeping department. All in all,, it's a busy weekend for Hedberg and his staff. Mint Growers Elect Rainier Man Leader Corvallis 0J.R) John W. Whipple, Rainier, Ore., was re elected president of the Oregon Essential Oil Growers' league at the end of - a twoIay meeting here Friday. . Dale Turnidge, Jefferson, was elected vice-president, and.C. E. Horner, plant pathologist at Ore gon State college, was; renamed secretary ;..( ' ; More than 200 peppermint growers attended the , meeting. WAS MANAGER F. n o ' Thorndike. above: is one of ip best-known banking officials in southern Oregon. He was man ager of the Medford branch f the First National Bank of Port land from 1935 until 1952, when he was promoted to a bank vice presidency. He .retired last sum mer, 3! s II IS 'T . . "" TT 1 I j I Sr Bank's Growth Told Since Founding In April of 1905 Business Moves Several Times - - The move of the Medford branch of First National Bank of Portland to its new, modern quarters has caused many in the Medford area to remember the history and growth of banking in this community. v 5 a Medford has ; had i banking since April 7, 1905, when the town's first bank, the First Na tional , Bank of Medford, was founded.: - . -j ; The business began in a small store room at the northeast cor ner of Main and Bartlett sts., with capital of $25,000, and a working force of only the bank's cashier., . ,.. . .-. -: Needed Larger Quarters ; Capable management and the growth of the business interests in the community contributed to the prosperity of the bank, and larger quarters soon were neces sary.- . , : In 1906, the bank moved to larger and better equipped quarters in a brick building, which at that time occupied a portion - of the original site. The bank's rapid growth con tinued. Within five years its re sources passed the million dollar mark, and the increased volume of busmess necessitated another move to still larger, more con venient banking quarters. The present old First National building was constructed in 1911 and 12, and has been occupied ever since by the bank. Joins System r The Furst : National of Med ford became the Medford branch of First National of Portland in 1935, and , seven years later it was necessary to remodel and enlarge the facilities to keen pace with the growing commun- . Only one of the original offi cers and directors of the old bank still survives. He is George W. Dunn, 91-year-old resident of Ashland, who was a director of the bank when it was chartered. He was later president of the First National of Ashland, which was succeeded by the Ashland branch of Fn-st National of Port- Dunn also served for years as a state senator. many in inn uen Harder came to Medford as vice-president of the irst .National of. Medford, and within six months became res ident of the bank. He continued in that post until First National of Portland purchased the bank m i9ia. Harder, 75, is now re aired and resides in Medford. Three Managers oince Decommg a branch of Dirst National of Portland, the imun. nets uaa mree managers. A A. Schramm was the first man- uui im remamea only six months before being transferred to another asignment. Eugene Thorndike, who, re tired several months ago as vice- president of the branch, became manager in 1935 and continued in that position' until being ele- vaiea to vice-president in 1952. He retired last year. At that time Elwood Hedberg, the present manager, became the operating head of the bank. Hed berg is a native of Jackson coun ty, having been born and raised in Ashland. He began his bank ing career at the Ashland branch of First National in 1923, and has Deen in Medford since 1942. Fastest Growing In recent years the Medford branch has become the fastest growing banking office in the First National statewide system, illustrating well the spectacu lar record of growth of banking, agriculture and other commercial industries in the Medford area. Figures released by Hedberg show, that in December, 1935, when the bank became a branch of the statewide bank, deposits V ' J1L 4 Amp9 saffl! VfpJ fci 1 if T 1 1 1 mil i" ifcml i ""4-'i. i m Jfc 'I STOCKROOM SUPPLIES Wesley Nissen (left) operations offi cer of the Medford branch of the First National bank,: and Bud Fosmore, from the Portland head office, assisted last week as sup plies were moved into the stock at 1 Eatf Uaia at 3W FORMER PRESIDENT Ben Harder, above, was president of the First National Bank of Medford, which rwas the predecessor of the present branch bank, from 1921 to 1935, when it was purchased by the First National of Portland. Still living in Medford, Harder is retired. He is shown with a March 3, 1912, which told. the original site to the new quarters, for the new building. ONE OF FIRST DIRECTORS years old, is the only surviving : : ' ; v ' - - , I fill v v 1 ! directors of the First National Bank ot. Medford, organized in 1905. He served later as president of the First National Bank of Ashland. Dunn was a state senator from Jackson county for many years, and, this picture was taken of him a number of. years ago at his desk in Salem. " ' , " ' . -r " Major Oil Companies Seek Oregon Deposits Roseburg (U.R) Oregon is being explored for oil deposits by several major oil companies according - to G. M: Valentine, district, geologist for Shell Oil company. ; ' Valentine said the .'state is "crawling", with exploration par ties. - : 1 . Major companies actively in volved were listed as Sinclair Oil and Gas, 'Humble Oil and Refining, General Petroleum, El Paso Natural Gas, Standard Oil of California, Richfield Oil, Ohio Oil, the Texas company and Shell Oil. totalled $3,000,000 and : total loans amounted-to less 'than half million. Since that time, de posits have -increased nearly rune tunes that amount. By 1945, ten years later, de posits had climbed-to nearly S19, 000,000 and loans were past the $2,000,000 mark. Last week, de posits at the branch were $27,- 000,000 and loans totaled $10,- 000,000. "This steady growth of the Medford area, reflected in . the continually increasing volume of business at First National s local branch, has made the new bank ing facilities ' necessary' Hed berg said. - room of the new branch building photo) copy of the Medford Sun, dated story of the bank's move from its which are now being abandoned , (Brainerd photo) J George W. Dunn, Ashland, now 91 member of the original board of ai u 11 jib 11 . : "' ' ... .f. - : -P . r i OLD BANK BUILDING Shown , abova ii an old pleturo of the quarters the First National bank has occupied since 1912. The pic ture, from the files of The MaU Tribune, Is undated, but tho clothes on the woman in the picture indicate it must have been taken-about the time the building was opened. Plans for the struc ture include the opening of stores there. It has been purchased by Ben Diercks, Grants Pass lumberman.' o KINDERGARTEN NOV OPEN - , .V r Christian Pro-School Training ; : . , Morning classes now in session 9 ro 12 ajn.. Afternoon classsv planned 1 to 4 p.ea., . CHILDREN CAN ENROLL ANY TIME : Reasonable Rates Experienced" Jf7 : MEDFORD ASSEMBLY OF GOD 1103 West Main Street -For; further Information Phone 2-4292 er 2-5323 - pnmi UEi7 r:unsi::3 -co ; 506 WEST MAIN STREET Medford, Oregon Phone Post operatives, chronics and convalescents - , Specialized care. with kindness Under Registered. Nurse Supenrisisn NURSES ON DUTY 24 HOURS DAILY 3 PRESENT MANAGER Elwood Hedberg,. above, is manager of the ! bank today. A nathra of Japkson county r he began his career iri Ashland, moving to Medford in 1942, serving as an officer of the branch until hia promotion to manager in 1952, succeeding Eugene TnornaiKe, - who became vice-president. . .. . $20 Boost Sought In School. Support Portland (U.R) An offic- , ial of the Oregon Education as sociation said Saturday the Leg islature, which opens Its 1953 session Monday at Salem, will bo asked to increase the basic school support fund from $80 to $100 per census child. : -y Cecil W. Posey, executive sec retary of the OEA, said the pro posed increase would add about $8,000,000 to the basic school fund figure which' is expected to exceed $70,000,000 during the biennium beginning July 1. Sup port totals were nearly $65,000, 000 for the two-year period end ing 'June- 30. Posey 'said the in crease in : the next' biennium la attributable to an annual school enrollment increase of approxi mately 20,000. vlr ' ' ON REED BOARD -.! : .Portland UJJ Harold E Sanford, vice-president of Con tinental Grain, company for the Pacifier coast, has accepted' the ' chairmanship of the .board oi trustees of Reed college here, it was announced Saturday.' : - i f 1 1 ? i - v
