The Union Bank of

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Fl ...

was established around 1830 and the bank building constructed for it in 1841. It is Florida's oldest surviving

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

building. It is located at Apalachee Parkway and Calhoun Street and is now a museum and archive and research center for African American history. On February 24, 1971, it was added to the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

History

The Union Bank building was completed in 1841 as Tallahassee's first bank by William Williams when Florida was still a territory (

Florida Territory The Territory of Florida was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 30, 1822, until March 3, 1845, when it was admitted to the Union as the state of Florida. Originally the major portion of the Spanish ...

). It was chartered to help finance local

cotton plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tobacco ...

s. It closed in 1843 due to the

Seminole Wars The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were a series of three military conflicts between the United States and the Seminoles that took place in Florida between about 1816 and 1858. The Seminoles are a Native American nation which co ...

, unsound banking practices, and the long recession following the

Panic of 1837 The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that began a major depression (economics), depression which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages dropped, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment rose, and pes ...

. In 1847, the bank was purchased by cotton plantation owners William Bailey and Isaac Mitchell. After the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, the bank building reopened as the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company in 1868 for emancipated

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

s. It later served as a church, feed store, art house, coffee house, dance studio, locksmith's shop, beauty shop, and shoe factory.

Willis Jiles

Willis Jiles, originally Giles, (1874 - 1963) owned a cobbler shop in the building in the 1920s. Jiles was a graduate of the

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU; formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute) is a Private university, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It was f ...

. His children with wife Sadie graduated from Florida A & M and

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...

Relocation

In 1971, the bank building was moved from its original site on the west side of Adams Street between College Avenue and Park Avenue, to just east of the Capitol on Apalachee Parkway and Calhoun Avenue where it underwent restoration and was opened as a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

in 1984.

Southeastern Regional Black Archives Research Center and Museum

The Union Bank building now serves as an extension of the

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. ...

Southeastern Regional Black Archives, Research Center and Museum. The site is also known as the Capitol Complex Extension Branch of the Southeastern Regional Black Archives. The museum is open to the public and school groups only on weekdays. Artifacts and documents reflecting black history and culture in Florida are on display, and public programs are provided by Black Archives staff. The main location for the Southeastern Regional Black Archives, Research Center and Museum is located at the Carnegie Library at FAMU.

References

External links

*Paisley, Clifton; From Cotton To Quail, University of Florida Press, c1968.
Leon County listings
a
National Register of Historic Places

Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
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Leon County listings
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Leon County markers
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Union Bank Building

Union Bank

- official site of the Union Bank extension
FAMU Southeastern Regional Black Archives Research Center and Museum
- main site the Archives and other facilities {{authority control Historic buildings and structures in Leon County, Florida National Register of Historic Places in Tallahassee, Florida Buildings and structures in Tallahassee, Florida Museums in Tallahassee, Florida African-American museums in Florida University museums in Florida Florida A&M University Bank buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida Tourist attractions in Tallahassee, Florida African-American tourist attractions in Florida