Blevins Historical Meeting

A meeting was held at the Blevins City Hall on Monday, July 8th about the history of the Bank of Blevins. Danny Montgomery met with Mike Stephens to interview him. Others who were connected with the bank’s history were present as well as John Myrick, the Assistant Mayor of Blevins. In Montgomery’s attempt to preserve the history of Blevins he noted the bank was one of the cornerstones of its history. The City Hall is the same building that housed the Bank of Blevins.

Stephens said the bank received its charter in December 1912. His grandfather PC Stevens was one of the founders along with Governor McCrae. His father joined the bank in 1929 and was faced with the combination of a really bad drought and the stock market collapse. People wanted to borrow money but there was no money available to be loaned out. The family poured money into the bank and kept it going.

Over the years the bank experienced a number of successful and attempted burglaries. in the 1930 it was robbed at gunpoint and the robbers kidnapped Stephens’ father and a teller. In the 1950s only a billfold was stolen.  In 1967 the roundhouse safe was broken into and some gold pieces were taken. This time the thieves had a lot of equipment but the majority of the money was protected by being hidden behind books.

One of the most dramatic attempts involved two robbers from Kansas City. This involved bank employees being tied up. The money had a dye pack and although tossed out the window when fleeing allowed the robbers to be caught. Their accomplice was noticed waiting for them. One of the meeting attendees worked at the bank during this robbery and recounted her memories of the event.

The bank moved as the electronics required a different building. The move was accomplished in three days.

In the late 1990s there was a large drop in customers and a lot of the bank’s services moved to Hope.

Stephens told a story about while he was still in school running the bank with his mother while his father went on a trip to learn more banking techniques. Stephens said during the depression his father didn’t take any income from the bank. He lived off of his savings instead. This helped prevent the bank from going under.

There is more information on Blevins history on the BlevinsARHistory.com website.