Bank History
Bank of Hiawassee Still Growing After 98 Years of Service
With $25,000 in working capital, 10 local businessmen saw the need for a bank in Hiawassee. On June 14, 1909, our bank charter authorizing Bank of Hiawassee, was signed by the Secretary of the State of Georgia.
A site for the bank was secured when T.J. Hooper and John H. Davis each donated ten feet of property on the south side of the town square in Hiawassee. The building blocks used in the construction of the bank were formed under a large oak tree across from the construction site on the town’s square. Bank of Hiawassee would be the first building in the county constructed from these blocks. When construction was completed in August 1909, Bank of Hiawassee opened to serve the Towns County area.
As the Bank continued to grow and serve the community, a new building would soon be needed to accommodate our needs. In 1955, a new Bank building was erected on the southwest corner of the town square. Additional remodeling and further expansions occurred in 1964, 1975, and 1986. By 1996, a totally new facility was built on South Main Street in Hiawassee. The building on the southwest corner of the town square was remodeled in 2007 and now houses the Bank’s operations department.
Bank of Hiawassee grew and prospered throughout the next decades. Our customers and strong bank leadership are credited with keeping the Bank stable during the turbulent years leading up to and including the Great Depression.
The stability of Bank of Hiawassee, from its beginning, is reflected in its continuous operation from 1909 to the present. Bank of Hiawassee is the oldest business still in existence in Towns County, as well as the oldest financial institution in several surrounding counties.
Assets have grown from $25,000 to $435,039,000 in 2007. The Bank employs 138 residents from the tri-county area making Bank of Hiawassee one of the largest employers.
Our Vision is the same today as it was more than 98 years ago. Bank of Hiawassee strives to be the leading provider of financial services through employees who are, among other things, passionate about service, proactive, and committed to the pursuit of excellence.
We, at Bank of Hiawassee, value our customers and make them our Number One priority and the most important ingredient in our business recipe; that trust, integrity and reliability will become the benchmark for excellence in our markets; and that our community involvement is vital to our success and is demonstrated through financial commitment and staff participation.
Our Directors and Officers have a vital interest in the prosperity of our community because they live here too! They have families and friends who attend local schools and churches. They own homes and businesses also. Our Directors are: H.D. “Dick” Paris, owner of Hiawassee Hardware, Elois Denton Anderson, C.E.O., Bank of Hiawassee, Robert L. Anderson III, Branch Manager, Raymond James Financial Services, Inc.., Charles Nicholson, retired Pharmacist, Dr. Greg Adams, Dentist, Dr. Clay Dotson, retired Educator Young Harris College, Gary Lance, Builder, Chris Kelley, Blue Ridge Mountain EMC, and Steve Giles, Investor/Builder.
For more than 98 years, Bank of Hiawassee has continued as a locally-owned and operated community bank with over 250 shareholders. We have five branches; Hiawassee, Ingles Supermarket in Hiawassee, Young Harris, Blairsville and Blue Ridge. Our professional, friendly staff at Bank of Hiawassee is proud to be able to meet the needs of a growing and diverse population without sacrificing the personalized service and attention our customers have learned to expect.
