History of the Farmers Banking and Trust Company building
The Farmers Banking and Trust Company, originally formed in 1900, holds a rich history– most of which took place from their iconic Art Deco building near the courthouses in downtown Rockville. The structure has endured through the banking hardships caused by the Great Depression as well as the urban renewal project in the 1960s and 70s that destroyed almost all other buildings around it. Learn about the remarkable life of this unique building, soon to be the new home of the Montgomery County History Center.
Above: Farmers Banking and Trust Company’s first building, c.1902 (Montgomery History)
At right: Original location of the bank’s first building, at the corner of Commerce Lane and Court Street. [note: this portion of Rockville’s street grid was drastically altered in the late 1960s when urban renewal projects razed most of the buildings on this block and re-oriented the streets. For a wider view, see the full map from 1908, drawn by the Sanborn Fire Insurance Company and provided by the Library of Congress, which includes the detail at right]
The Farmers Banking and Trust Company was formed in 1900 as a “tin box bank,” operating out of a small, rented room with the day’s deposits transported in a tin box to the National Bank for safekeeping each night. In July of 1901, their bank building was completed, standing at the corner of Commerce Lane and Court Street on the former site of the Bouic homestead. It was designed by Thomas G. Groomes, whose elaborate Victorian-style house and office stood across the street. William Veirs Bouic, Jr. was the first president of the company, followed by Phillip D. Laird and then by Robert G. Hilton (also a state senator), who took leadership of the bank in 1910. That same year, William Veirs Bouic Jr.’s son Albert M. Bouic became a director of the bank, a position he held for the next 50 years.
The bank was successful and opened an additional branch in Kensington in 1908. Rockville’s branch of Farmers Banking and Trust operated from its original location until the late 1920s, when the impending construction of the Grey Courthouse required the demolition of all buildings on the block west of Court Street.
Above, Farmers Banking and Trust Co. building, c. 1930. From the collections of Peerless Rockville (Malcolm Walter collection) At right, detail from the inside of the vault door, manufactured by Tighlman-Moyer Co. (Montgomery History)
On November 30, 1930, the new bank building for Farmers Banking and Trust opened across the street from their former location, at the corner of Commerce Lane and Washington Street, facing the new (but not yet completed) courthouse, which opened the following year in 1931. The new building, constructed of brick with granite facing, was a modern structure in the Art Deco style, designed by the architectural firm Tighlman H. Moyer & Company of Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Lobby of the bank building, 1930. From the collections of Peerless Rockville (Malcolm Walter collection)
The Moyer firm was renowned for designing bank buildings in a range of styles. According to architectural historian Terry Lachin, “The Farmers Bank was designed as a modern building, quite unlike its historic neighbors – the 1891 Romanesque Revival Courthouse, the 1931 neo-classical Grey Courthouse, and the 1939 Georgian Revival Post Office – that drew on archaic archetypes, relying on older architectural styles for inspiration and/or prestige in centuries past. By contrast, the new Art Deco bank represented an emblem of its own time, signaling modernism of the twentieth century and an international signature style of urban sophistication.”
Farmers Banking and Trust building, 1930. From the collections of Peerless Rockville (Malcolm Walter collection)
An article describing the grand opening of the bank in the Montgomery County Sentinel (December 5, 1930) stated, “The new structure is furnished with the latest-style banking equipment, including a burglar proof vault. Offices on the upper floor are reached by an automatic elevator.”
Forced to temporarily close along with all other banks as a result of the collapse of financial institutions in the early 1930s, the bank was able to weather the storm of the Great Depression and remain solvent, becoming a member of the newly-instituted Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The bank continued to expand operations, adding a third branch in Poolesville in 1938 in a building vacated by the Commercial State Bank of Frederick.
Throughout the years, at least portions of the third floor office space were leased out. The Montgomery County Community Chest and the Montgomery Savings and Loan both had their headquarters in the building, and lawyers Roger J. Whiteford and Clifford H. Robertson held law offices there, among many others.
For many years, the bank sat beside old 1890s houses converted into storefronts. In the photo at right (from Montgomery History’s collection), the Victorian home and office of Thomas F. Groomes stands alongside the imposing modern bank building. Groomes was the architect who had designed the original FBT building in 1901 (which had been razed in 1929 for the new courthouse building). This picture dates from about the 1940s.
The facade of the house had been significantly altered by this second photo, taken in 1954, refaced with brick to reflect its continued use as a commercial space. Note the location of the 4-sided clock in the median near the center of the photo, placed there in 1939 and destroyed only a few years after this photo was taken, when an eager volunteer firefighter rushing to heed a call toppled it with his vehicle in 1957.
In 1954, the bank underwent a complete interior remodel to “enable clients to transact their business more expeditiously in a restful, modern atmosphere.” Although no images are extant of the remodel, it seems the teller counters were replaced, creating more space in the main floor lobby, and the floor was tiled. The bookkeeping department was moved to the second floor, the president’s office was moved to the rear of the building, and air conditioning was installed. The bank held an open house on September 15, 1954 to introduce patrons to the new space.
Below: 1954 open house advertised in the Montgomery County Sentinel
Signage for First National Bank dates this photo to 1962 or later. (Montgomery History)
Farmers Banking and Trust Co. merged with First National Bank in 1962. Also beginning in the early 1960s, the City of Rockville formulated plans for a wholesale renewal of the city center, including the area around the courthouse. Interestingly, though early plans for the “Mid-City Project Area” would have obliterated the Red Brick Courthouse, the bank building was never slated for demolition, always sitting outside the project area or incorporated into plans.
Below: a 1960s view of the bank building, (upper center) sitting at the west end of a row of buildings that would be demolished for urban renewal. The addition to the Grey Courthouse, completed in 1961, can be seen on the left side of the image (Montgomery History)
View of First National Bank at 4 Courthouse Square, c.1970s. (Montgomery History)
Demolition of the majority of the buildings surrounding the bank occurred in 1969, and the area around it became known as “Courthouse Square.” Further renovations to the streetscape in the 1970s created a pedestrian plaza that left the building looming alone on an island of brick-lined space. First National Bank created external signage to cover up the Farmers Banking and Trust name carved into the granite. Fortunately this signage was applied without permanent damage to the original facing. Law offices continued to populate the third floor throughout the 1970s.
Aerial view of Courthouse Square in 1986, bank at top right. (Gazette, December 10, 1986)
In 1986, due to efforts from Eileen McGuckian and Peerless Rockville, Inc., the building was designated in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the larger Montgomery County Courthouse Historic District (which included the 1890 and 1931 courthouses as well as the former 1939 post office). A few years later, rumors surfaced that developers for an impending renewal project along Middle Lane behind the bank planned to raze the building to make room for high-rise mixed-use residential units (national historic designation cannot prevent demolition if federal funds are not employed). Fortunately, the rumors were unfounded and the bank continued operation as a First National branch until c.1999 when the company was incorporated as Allfirst.
The building was later acquired by M&T Bank, which continued operating it as a bank facility until it closed the 4 Courthouse Square branch in September, 2023. Faced again with the threat of the structure’s demolition in the name of redevelopment, the City of Rockville appealed to the Rockville Historic District Commission to designate the building as one of local historical significance in the “Courthouse Square Historic District,” again supported by Peerless Rockville and many other organizations. The bank building was designated in July of 2024, after a vote by the Mayor and City Council to approve.
On January 24, 2025, Montgomery History purchased the historic Farmers Banking and Trust building to create its new headquarters, called the Montgomery County History Center. Planned as a vibrant hub featuring space for exhibits, lectures, receptions, as well as the home of the Jane Sween Research Library and Special Collections, the newly-renovated space is expected to open in 2026, in time for Montgomery County’s 250th anniversary celebrations.
Content researched and written by Sarah Hedlund in February, 2025.
Sources for written content:
- Lachin, Terry. Statement to the City of Rockville Historical Review Committee, 2024.
- Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company. “Telephone Directory for Rockville, Gaithersburg and Vicinity.” Baltimore, MD: April 1949.
- Department of the Interior: National Park Service. “Montgomery County Courthouse Historic District.” National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form (M:26-11), 1976/1986 (provided by Maryland Historical Trust).
- Bouic, Albert M. “Country Lawyer – Third Generation.” [Self-published manuscript], 1958
- Buglass, Ralph and Peerless Rockville Historic Preservation. “Images of America: Rockville.” Arcadia Publishing: Charleston, SC, 2020.
- McGuckian, Eileen. “Rockville: Portrait of a City.” Hillsboro Press: Franklin, TN. 2001.
- “Farmers Banking and Trust Co. Opens New Modern Home.” Montgomery County Sentinel, December 5, 1930.
- “Farmers Bank ‘Open House’ Will Reveal Changed Decor.” Montgomery County Sentinel, September 9, 1954.
- “Farmers Banking and Trust Company Observes 60th Birthday in November.” Montgomery County Sentinel, August 25, 1960.
- McGuckian, Eileen. “Courthouse District judged worthy of historical record.” Gazette (Montgomery County, MD), December 10, 1986.