First National Bank of Newark

The First National Bank of Newark was founded in 1865, by a group of local Licking County businessmen led by Virgil Wright. The group was granted a charter on February 3rd, 1865, and this charter is one of the oldest of the National Bank charters in Ohio. They met in the office of Jerome Buckingham, who was elected as the bank’s first president, and held that position until his death in November of 1902. Frederick S. Wright assumed the office of presidency next. The Federal Reserve Act was passed in 1913 and the First National Bank became one of the first banks in Ohio to become a member of the system.

Wright’s brothers Edwin succeeded him to the presidency and served in that capacity until his death in December 1951. Through the stock market crash in 1929, and the subsequent years of the Great Depression, the First National Bank never lost the confidence of its customers, and records indicate that it was one of the first banks in the state to receive permission to reopen its doors.

James M. Miller was elected the next president, and despite his short term of only two years, the bank went through a number of changes. The building was extensively remodeled, and on October 1st, 1954 the First National consolidated with Union Licking Bank. Harold L. Ballinger, former president of Union Licking Bank succeeded Miller, and the offices were moved to their place on Church Street. The historic building that housed the bank in its early days was closed in the early 1960s. In June of 1962 a branch office opened in Heath. Ballinger died in January 1964, leading the way to the sixth president Phillip B. Young.

First National Bank merged with the First National Bank of Utica in 1969. The bank merged into the National City Bank of Columbus, becoming and closed its doors on June 30th, 1979.

Local Legend

Popular legend states that the well known face carved into the doorway of the former First National Bank Building belongs to Adam Kiesel. Kiesel was a failing businessman who reportedly set fire to his grocery shack that stood directly east of the bank. He was tried for arson and acquitted, but many locals were thankful that he had burned down unsightly structures from the public square. The architect who designed the bank building Thomas D. Jones carved this face as a reminder to Kiesel's public service to the bank and the community.