148. Fort Payne Bank (Fort Payne, AL)

Bank Information

Episode Type
Run → Suspension → Reopening
Bank Type
state
Start Date
March 1, 1921*
Location
Fort Payne, Alabama (34.444, -85.720)

Metadata

Model
gpt-5-mini
Short Digest
0071cc9b

Response Measures

Full suspension

Description

Contemporary reporting (Mar 25, 1921) states the Fort Payne bank was closed by run and by May 19, 1921 the bank had resumed business. No specific misinformation incident is described; suspension is characterized as unwarranted by condition. Dates for the run/suspension are imprecise in the articles, so March 1921 is used as an approximate date for closure and May 19, 1921 for reopening/resumption.

Events (3)
1. March 1, 1921* Run
Cause
Rumor Or Misinformation
Cause Details
Depositors ran on the bank, closing it; reporting indicates the suspension was unwarranted by the condition of the bank, suggesting a panic/rumor-driven run rather than insolvency.
Measures
Bank suspended payments and later resumed operations (resumption announced by May 19, 1921).
Newspaper Excerpt
Plan to reopen Fort Payne bank, closed by run.
Source
newspapers
2. March 1, 1921* Suspension
Cause
Rumor Or Misinformation
Cause Details
Suspension followed a depositor run; later reports call the suspension 'unwarranted by the condition of the bank.'
Newspaper Excerpt
Plan to reopen Fort Payne bank, closed by run.
Source
newspapers
3. May 19, 1921 Reopening
Newspaper Excerpt
The reopening of the Fort Payne T bank will have a good effect ... Deposits in the Fort Payne bank on the day of resumption were twice the amount of withdrawals on the day it suspended.
Source
newspapers

Newspaper Articles (2)
1. March 25, 1921 The Birmingham Age-Herald Birmingham, AL
Article from The Birmingham Age-Herald, March 25, 1921

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Article Text

GIST OF THE NEWS GENERAL Lansing reveals peace conference secrets in book. Employes ask summons for three rail chiefs. Complete Americanisation of embassies is ordered. Boss Penrose to oil steam roller for demonstration. Thief with master mind baffles federal sleuths. Mississippi moonshiner has queer attack of conscience. Irregular course in stocks; reactions in cotton. STATE Musgrove estate at Jasper goes on the market. All features of new school code become operative. Plan to reopen Fort Payne bank, closed by run. Thousands at teachers' conclave, opened by Dr. Dowling. Proper feeding greatest service, expert declares. Minnesota mine expert commends state university. LOCAL Officers gathering clues in double murder cane. To demand investigation of Sunday auto canen. Organizing here to join foreign trade campaign. Miners' union to fill obligations, says Bittner. Inspector issues building permits in sum of $90,000. Milk, fruit, fish, Rotary souvenirs, to be distributed. Two whisky poisons, one killing quickly, other in convulsions. Store building permits halted for soning law.

2. May 19, 1921 The Birmingham Age-Herald Birmingham, AL
Article from The Birmingham Age-Herald, May 19, 1921

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Article Text

Fine Record Made by Alabama Banks HE reopening of the Fort Payne T bank will have a good effect all over the state. It vindicates the banking laws of Alabama, whose wise supervising methods during the past several years have served to prevent a single failure. The only banks that have gone out of business in Alabama in the recent past have been two that voluntarily liquidated and retired without a blemish on their records. Where one bank has closed its doors several new ones have opened. Deposits in the Fort Payne bank on the day of resumption were twice the amount of withdrawals on the day it suspended. The suspension was unwarranted by the condition of the bank and its quick resumption of business with full restoration of the confidence of its depositors is ample proof of its real status. It is fine for a state to be able to say to the outside world that its banks withstood the pressure of all the unfavorable conditions following the World war without one of them losing its stable character.