The Bank of Washington, later named The National Bank of Washington and abbreviated as NBW, was the first bank established in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

After suffering from

bank failure A bank failure occurs when a bank is unable to meet its obligations to its depositors or other creditors because it has become insolvent or too illiquid to meet its liabilities. A bank usually fails economically when the market value of its asset ...

in 1990, the bank was acquired by

Riggs Bank Riggs Bank was a bank headquartered in Washington, D.C. For most of its history, it was the largest bank headquartered in that city. On May 13, 2005, after the exposure of several money laundering scandals, the bank was acquired by PNC Financia ...

History

The bank was chartered in 1809.

Daniel Carroll Daniel Carroll (July 22, 1730May 7, 1796) was an American politician and plantation owner from Maryland and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He supported the American Revolution, served in the Confederation Congress, was a de ...

of Duddington was the first

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the bank. The bank lent $350,000, more than two-thirds of its capital, to the United States Government during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

. The bank was initially located on Capitol Hill but in 1828, it moved to a building on 6th Street and

Pennsylvania Avenue Pennsylvania Avenue is a diagonal street in Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County, Maryland, that connects the White House and the United States Capitol and then crosses the city to Maryland. In Maryland it is also Maryland Route 4 (MD 4 ...

. In 1821, the bank launched a "savings fund" offering depositors a rate of 4%. In 1888, the

National Bank of Washington, Washington Branch The Washington Branch of the National Bank of Washington is an historic bank building located in Northwest, Washington, D.C. History The building was built in 1888 as a branch of The Bank of Washington. It was designed by James G. Hill and Dani ...

was constructed. In 1907, the bank acquired Central National Bank. In 1949, the United Mine Workers acquired a 76% ownership interest in the bank. In 1954, the bank acquired Hamilton National Bank, in 1957, it acquired Liberty National Bank, and in 1960, it acquired Anacostia National Bank. In 1980, Luther H. Hodges Jr. took over leadership of the bank. In 1985, Hodges convinced the United Mine Workers to sell control of the bank to Colson Inc., an investment group led by Hodges. In 1988, 3 directors of the bank challenged the leadership of Hodges, who owned 3% of the bank. In 1990, Hodges resigned. Later that year, as a result of

, the bank was seized by the

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is an independent bureau within the United States Department of the Treasury that was established by the National Currency Act of 1863 and serves to charter, regulate, and supervise all natio ...

. The bank was acquired by

. As part of the bank failure, the

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is one of two agencies that supply deposit insurance to depositors in American depository institutions, the other being the National Credit Union Administration, which regulates and insures cr ...

(FDIC) covered losses on the $37 million of deposits at a subsidiary of the bank in

The Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

. In 1991, the FDIC sued John J. Mason, chairman of the bank, for failing to repay a $9 million loan made to him by the bank in April 1987 and for transferring nearly $5 million of assets into an account that officials could not touch.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bank of Washington Banks established in 1809 Banks based in Washington, D.C. Defunct banks of the United States Banks disestablished in 1990 American companies established in 1809 American companies disestablished in 1990