About Citizens State Bank
Citizens State Bank of Sealy was founded by a group of local businessmen on May 20, 1907, with a starting capital of $25,000 and total assets of $46,000. The capital was divided into 250 shares with a par value of $100 each, according to the terms of the bank’s charter, which was signed on August 3rd of the same year. The first bank president was R. A. Engelking, who also served as president of the Oil Mill in Sealy. Other founding directors of the bank were John Hackbarth, Herman Kersten, Sr., Alex Kloss, John Damek, C.C. Luhn, Edward Kennedy, and Dr. W. Schomoeller. The bank’s first home was located next to the old Sealy News building on Main Street.
By 1917, Citizens State Bank had outgrown the Main Street location and relocated to the corner of Main and Fowlkes in a two-story brick structure. It remained there until the mid-1960’s, when it moved to the current location. Houston Lighting and Power Company later occupied this building.
At one time in the early 1900s Sealy was the home of three banks. But with the onset of the Great Depression in the 1930s, the other two facilities were forced to close, thus leaving Citizens State Bank the only survivor of this era. It remained the only bank in town until the 1980s.