Decatur’s Old State Bank Is Thought To Be The Oldest Surviving Bank Building In Alabama

By Erin Harney

Today, the Old State Bank in Decatur, recognized for its architectural significance, celebrates its 45th year on the National Register of Historic Places. The bank and the Somerville Courthouse Building, Alabama’s oldest existing courthouse, were the first Morgan County buildings to be honored.

On July 29, 1833, the Decatur branch of the Alabama State Bank opened in downtown Decatur. Thought to be the oldest surviving bank building in the state, it now serves as the Old State Bank Museum, which opened in the early 1980s.

Authorized by the Alabama General Assembly in 1832, the Alabama State Bank opened branches in Mobile, Montgomery and Decatur. The Decatur branch was considered a controversial location because the frontier town had only about 200 residents, compared to nearby Huntsville and surrounding Madison County, which had about 20,000.Decatur’s location on the Tennessee River, at the future junction of two railroads and surrounded by cotton plantations, helped the bank to thrive during its first year, when it reported a profit of over $84,000. Also in its first year, the bank began to invest in, and thereby create, the Tuscumbia, Courtland and Decatur Railroad, the first railroad west of the Allegheny Mountains.

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