#TBT - First National Bank of Middletown

You might not know it, but the First Financial Bank – with branches at 300 North Main Street, Middletown and 815 South Breiel Boulevard, Middletown, has a long history in Middletown. What is now First Financial Bank was once smorgasbord of different banks that merged over the years. In Middletown, First Financial Bank can trace its origins all they way back to the First National Bank of Middletown, which incorporated on July 12, 1865 and opened for business on September 2, 1865.

First National Bank of Middletown, circa 1890

The 1891 City Directory lists the bank the south east corner of Third Street (present-day Central Avenue) and Main. Joseph Sutphin was elected as the first president and L. D. Doty was elected as the first cashier.

First National Bank Logo, 1965

First National Bank Loan Note, 1872-12-10

In 1919, First National Bank merged with another local bank, Merchants National to form First and Merchants National Bank. A several years prior, Paul J. Sorg – prominent Middletown businessman and builder of the Sorg Mansion – had stepped in to save the Merchants National Bank.

Merchants National Bank, 1893

Check on the Merchants National Bank, 1894-08-24

Middletown Civic Group, featuring Paul J. Sorg, circa 1894

In June of 1921, First and Merchants National Bank moved into the newly completed building located on the northeast corner of Third Street (present-day Central Avenue) and Main Street. That building, known today as the First National Bank Building, with the address of 2 North Main Street, cost $258,000 to build or roughly $3.7 million today.

First and Merchants National Bank and Masonic Temple, Middletown, Ohio, circa 1923

First & Merchants National Bank, Middletown, circa 1925

Looking Northeast from First and Merchants Bank Building, 1920

South Main Street from First & Merchants Bank Building, 1920

In 1935, the First and Merchants National Bank merged with the American Trust and Savings Bank, dropping its national bank charter, and adopting a state bank charter. In 1948, the bank re-adopted a national bank charter and renamed itself the First National Bank of Middletown.

First National Bank of Middletown, 1977-02-17

First National Bank of Middletown, 1977-02-17

First National Bank of Middletown, circa 1975

In 1980, the First National Bank of Middletown merged with First National Bank and Trust Company of Hamilton, becoming First National Bank of Southwestern Ohio, in 1980. This new bank would then become First Financial Bank in 2002 after several other mergers and expansions. In 2001, the bank left the 2 North Main Street location.