Banking business in North Carolina during the 1930s
Hill discusses his and his father's business in banking during the 1930s. He describes in great detail the relationship of various North Carolina banks to one another, stressing the complexities that characterized such business relationships and interactions. Throughout, his emphasis on the importance of business strategy and leader is apparent.
Citing this Excerpt
Oral History Interview with George Watts Hill, January 30, 1986. Interview C-0047. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Full Text of the Excerpt
- GEORGE WATTS HILL:
-
His father-in-law was vice-president, stockholder in the Fidelity Bank,
as they called it; that was the Duke bank, the Dukes were president and
vice president. Then my father became, when my grandfather died, he
became vice-president. And when the Fidelity Bank was merged into
Wachovia, he became the largest stockholder in Wachovia Bank through
stock that he had inherited and had bought and still controlled two
other banks, the old Home Savings Bank which we merged into the Trust
Company in '37, what's now CCB. But Durham Realty
and Insurance Company, fire insurance, now known as Southland, was in
the back of that next building. I can remember vividly the back of the
first floor of the old Trust Building. And the bank was on the right
hand side and the Morris Plan Bank on the left. I
don't know whether you remember the Morris Plan.
- JAMES LEUTZE:
-
No.
- GEORGE WATTS HILL:
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That was the installment loan bank that eventually was combined with
another bank in Durham and is now lost sight of. Guaranty Bank takes its
place in taking care of the working man, you might say. He started that.
I think Morris Plan Bank became the Guaranty Bank. And where old Home
Savings Bank used to be he built the Temple Building which is
immediately to the west across Market Street from the Trust Building.
The Elk's were on the top floor, the third floor under the
roof, and eventually the life insurance company was on the second floor,
and the Home Savings Bank was on the first floor of the Trust Building.
And I lowered the steps. In those days they had ten steps high to the
main floor. The postal telegraph was on the west side, and the barber
shop, all ten chairs, was, oh, the barber shop was a tremendous thing.
Durham Realty was in the back. And I lowered that damn thing some time
after '31 or '33 or something, I lowered it to
sidewalk level, and then built an addition of sixteen foot, you can see
it back there now. I built that because the city was talking about
widening Market Street and I didn't want to see it widened,
so we built sixteen foot before the city could move.
[laughter]
And my father's office was in that eventually. And
the old hotel was there, that was a community building.
- JAMES LEUTZE:
-
The Washington . . .
- GEORGE WATTS HILL:
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The Washington Duke Hotel, named after Wash Duke. That had been a
community operation, financed it in bond issue, and so forth, all kinds
of graft. Oh, yeah.
- JAMES LEUTZE:
-
Now, so your father was involved with the bank that became the Wachovia
Bank.
- GEORGE WATTS HILL:
-
Eventually. He owned stock in it, but he owned the old Durham Loan and
Trust Company, which is now CCB and the old Home Savings Bank which was
merged into CCB later, it's name being changed sometime
whenever we combined.
- JAMES LEUTZE:
-
With a bank here in Chapel Hill. But now, wasn't there
competition between these banks, between Wachovia and Central
Carolina?
- GEORGE WATTS HILL:
-
Oh, yeah. It was the old Fidelity Bank. And as I told you, the Trust
Company, as we called it, had merged the Home Savings into it, was
growing faster than Fidelity and we'd gotten on a parity with
them, $10 million or something like that. And Fidelity became
frightened and joined, merged into Wachovia. And, hell, we fought them
like a bunch of damn tigers, always have. Wachovia is a very fine bank.
It doesn't bother us any more. Central Carolina is so
dominant in the area, Durham and Chapel Hill, I imagine we're
ahead of the North Carolina National Bank in Chapel Hill. But I know
we're way ahead of all the other banks put together in Durham
and we're ahead of them. It was logical, the home office.
- JAMES LEUTZE:
-
OK, now then. So your father got involved in the insurance company, in
farming, in city politics - city council, in banking.