Mercedes, Hidalgo County
The oldest Hidalgo County bank still in operation, this institution opened in 1907 in a frame house on Third Street. Incorporators of the firm were area leaders J. M. Johnson, Sr., who served as the first president, his son J. M. Johnson, Jr., William M. Price and S. P. Silver, all of Mercedes; John Closner of Hidalgo; and Walter A. McNeil of Santa Maria. Sound leadership helped the Hidalgo County Bank and Trust Company survive the economic depression of the 1930s and to become a leader in the development of the Rio Grande Valley area. (1982)