Shortly after the turn of the last century, on May 7, 1903, a group of four men founded the Yuma County Bank, located in Wray, Colorado. The new Bank was an immediate success and in 1907 it was incorporated under United States law as the FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF WRAY. The Bank began under its new name with over $100,000.00 in deposits and nearly $42,000.00 in capital.

On January 14, 1952, a group headed by Alonzo Petteys and Daniel Kjeldgaard of Brush, Colorado, purchased the Bank from E.B. Elizabeth and George B. McClintock. Mr. Kjeldgaard became President, L.L. Evans as Vice-President and Cashier, and Raymond Mullison was appointed Assistant Cashier. On August 2, 1958, this same group purchased The National Bank of Wray and merged it into The First National Bank of Wray. Both banks were very similar in size and on December 31, 1958, The First National Bank of Wray had total assets of over $6,500,000.00 and capital funds of $523,000.00. The merged banks continued to operate in The First National Bank building on the southeast corner of Third and Main until February 24, 1970, when they moved into their present home on property formerly occupied by T.B. Groves Company.

The Wray area and the Bank continued to grow and prosper and on May 1,1992, the Bank merged its assets with Security National Bank in Holyoke and changed its name to First Pioneer National Bank. The combined banks had total assets exceeding $75,000,000.00 and total equity capital of more than $7,500,000.00, with offices in Wray and Holyoke. At this same time plans were being made to expand the Wray bank building, and in early spring 1994, the new addition was completed.

The Bank remains very soundly capitalized. The staff and directors are proud of their bank and their community and remain committed to provide the best in banking services to our customers.

 Top of Page