FORMER BANK

Inscription

FORMER BANK
BUILT IN 1909 FOR BURLINGTON
NATIONAL BANK. MERGED 1926
TO BECOME FIRST NATIONAL BANK.
BOUGHT & SAVED 1933 BY MAYOR
M. E. NORRIS, THEN SOLD 1949.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2026

The Burlington National Bank was established in 1905 as the Skagit State Bank. During its early years, the institution planned a new headquarters at the corner of Fairhaven and Pine Streets. Completed in 1909, the two-story structure featured a steel vault, a burglar protection system, steam heating, and modern plumbing. The bank occupied the lower floor while the upper floor contained apartments. Following the move, the institution was renamed the Burlington National Bank. That same year, a separate entity called the First National Bank was established further up the street.

The two banks operated independently until 1926, when they merged to form the First National Bank of Burlington. The organization consolidated its operations at the Fairhaven and Pine location and sold the secondary building. In February 1929, the bank reported $60,000 in capital and surplus and $600,000 in total resources. However, the stock market crash in October 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression placed the institution in financial peril.

By 1933, Burlington Mayor M. E. Norris joined the board of directors after purchasing a controlling interest in the bank. Norris, a former civil engineer and contractor, invested personal funds to prevent the bank from collapsing. The institution returned to financial stability by 1937. Norris continued to lead the bank until 1949, when he sold the business to the National Bank of Commerce. Between the 1980s and the early 2000s, the building passed through several private owners until the non-profit organization Tierra Nueva purchased it in 2006.