The Bank of Kennewick Shuts its Doors
Stockholders vote for voluntary liquidation, promising full repayment as local banking consolidation triggers a shift in town commerce.
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At a meeting last Saturday, the stockholders of the Bank of Kennewick voted to go into voluntary liquidation and to discontinue business. Following this action the bank closed its receiving windows Saturday evening and since that time has been paying off its depositors, and making preparations for calling in its loans. It will require several months for the institution to entirely close up its business and offices will be maintained in the present location with Cashier M. W. Mattecheck in charge. Emery Olmstead, president of the institution, stated that the bank is not insolvent and is prepared to pay off every dollar on deposit. He cited that the Portland Trust company, which controls the bank, determined that business conditions did not justify the operation of two banks in the town.
“We do not feel that present business conditions justify the operation of two banks here.”
Bank consolidations remain a flashpoint in small-town economies. Just as the Bank of Kennewick shuttered in 1914 to consolidate interests in Portland, modern residents often navigate the withdrawal of regional services as centralized power shifts away from local main streets.
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