The banking needs of the Sewanee community have been met since the early 20th century in at least four locations and with several different names.
In 1903 an addition was made to the University Book and Supply Store, located adjacent to the central quadrangle of the college, to house a branch of the Bank of Winchester. And when the building was rebuilt after a fire 2 years later, space for bank operations was included. The Bank of Winchester failed in 1907, however, and a newly created bank, known as the Bank of Sewanee, continued for decades in the space at the north end of the Supply Store (today a part of the University's Wellness Center).
In 1959 the Bank of Sewanee relocated to the downtown area, in what had been KENNEDY'S FOOD MART and then Hoyt Baker's ELECTRICAL APPLIANCE AND REPAIR SHOP. It was eventually acquired by Franklin County Bank which had constructed for its Sewanee Branch a new building across University Avenue in 1975, beside one gasoline station and opposite another. Following the unfortunate association with Jake Butcher's banking empire, the bank was reorganized and brought into the Regions Bank network where it remains.
Today downtown Sewanee sports two ATM machines; one of them is associated with the full banking services found at REGIONS BANK. The other is owned by TOWER COMMUNITY BANK at the top of the village.
Mrs. Mary S. Hamilton's account of downtown as reported in Patricia Makris's The Other Side of Sewanee (p.38-9), recalls that a house and store just north of the current LOCALS burned earlier in the century and a garage had been built on the site. In 1946, Sewanee had 4 gasoline stations/garages and today's Regions Bank is situated where the garage operated by Cotton Terrill, William Hamilton and Tony Griswold had been.
See COTTON-KENNEDY BUILDING
Photos courtesy of Mary O'Neill and University Archives