FNB Coweta: A Proud History

Early in the 1840’s; a small settlement began to spring up along a small creek in Indian Territory near the “Three Forks” of the Arkansas, Verdigris and Grand Rivers. The settlement, Coweta, had been named after a Creek Indian settlement in Georgia as the area was largely populated with Creek Indians as a result of the removal and relocation of the Five Civilized Tribes from the East, the journey known as the “Trail of Tears”. In 1843, the Koweta Mission was established near the town by Robert Loughridge. After the Civil War, the Creek Nation was divided into six districts, with Coweta being located in the Coweta District, which encompassed all lands northeast of the Arkansas River. The political center of the district was located in a cabin along Coweta Creek, which was located a quarter of a mile west of present day downtown Coweta. It was along that creek bank that the settlement grew into a thriving community.

Around the turn of the century, Coweta, I.T., had grown into a thriving center of commerce. Five entrepreneurial businessmen, U.G. Phippen, W.S. Vernon, C.C. Hultquist, J. L. Dabbs and Guy Bowman recognized the need for a banking institution in this growing community.  On July 13, 1903 The First National Bank of Coweta received its charter and officially opened its doors on July 22, 1903 in a small frame building located on North Broadway. Shortly after opening, the bank was moved into a newly constructed two story banking facility at the corner of Broadway and Sycamore. The First National Bank of Coweta, with a change in name to FNB Coweta in 2019, continues to operate on that same corner today. With the addition of a Drive-Thru facility in downtown Coweta in 1979 and a full service branch facility at Highway 51 and Oneta Road in 2000, the bank has grown with the community and the surrounding area.

Since the bank’s founding in 1903, the Vernon family has continuously served in both an ownership capacity as well as being represented on the bank’s board of directors. Today, Deborah Vernon, the granddaughter-in-law of the bank’s founder, W.S. Vernon, currently serves on the bank’s board of directors. Since the doors opened in 1903, ten Presidents have served the bank; Ulysses P. Phippin, W.S. Vernon, C.C. Hultquist, Lem Vernon, I.J. Vernon, Dan Garman, Louis Fletcher, Norman Satterfield, Felton Gatlin and Michael Lyles.

FNB Coweta is the oldest family owned bank in Coweta and Wagoner County. The bank has stood with its customers through periods of great accomplishments and difficult times. From the early horse and buggy days through floods, droughts and depressions, FNB Coweta has stood as a pillar of financial stability in the Coweta community and surrounding area since 1903.

We recognize that you have many choices when it comes to meeting your banking needs. We believe you will notice a difference in service at FNB Coweta. We invite you to stop by and see for yourself how we put people first, one customer at a time.