Luzerne Bank is the last remaining of the old independent banks in Luzerne County .  Founded in 1907 during the time Wilkes-Barre fueled the American Industrial Revolution and every Wyoming Valley bank boasted a local board of directors.   Today, the Greater Wyoming Valley’s economy is diversified and Luzerne Bank continues to be managed by a local board of directors.   As with any company history, the story of Luzerne Bank is the story of people and the community.  Luzerne Bank’s founding directors and early shareholders played leading roles in industry and commerce --- particularly on the West Side .  Today, our directors and staff continue to play active roles in the community.

We continue to provide the Wyoming Valley with traditional banking services, business financing, home mortgages and trust services.  Bank technology has changed exponentially in the last 100 years and Luzerne Bank has kept ahead of the curve.  Yesteryear’s passbook is today’s ATMs and Internet Banking.  

With a bank our size and a community our size, we have been able to build banking relationships with many families for generations.  We are proud to have shareholder families for three and four generations.  

Some of our banking relationships have even come full-circle over the last 100 years an example you will soon read and it might surprise you.  

It is with gratitude to the Wyoming Valley for 100 years of trust that we present you with the story of Luzerne Bank, its people and its community.  We hope you will find it both interesting and enjoyable.  

Robert C. Snyder
President & CEO

Luzerne Bank opened for business November 19, 19 07 .  Economic historians point out it was the worst day of the Bank Panic of 1907.  At the close of business on that date, Luzerne Bank was perhaps in the most liquid position of any bank in Luzerne County , having its entire deposit liability represented in cash.  On the first day of business 75 accounts were opened with deposits totaling $40,000.

Most people can recall from history the Crash of 1929, but before then the Panic of 1907 shook people’s confidence in Wall Street and the banking system so much so that the Federal Reserve System was created.  The problems in the fall of 1907 were a catalyst for stimulating change in the role of our government in the operation of the national financial system.  By 1914, the Federal Reserve began operations and Luzerne Bank joined the very same year.  The end result of the two great economic downturns was the establishment of federal deposit insurance was in the 1930s.  Before federal deposit insurance, the willingness of people to hold bank deposits depended on their confidence in the strength of the banks and personal reputations of bankers and their backers.  

So why would Luzerne Bank open its doors in 1907?  Because the local economy in Wilkes-Barre and the Wyoming Valley was booming.   Coal and lumber was booming – silk and lace mills were opening up all over the Wyoming Valley .  People were streaming in from all over the world.  The local economic outlook was bright at least for the next two decades.  

As the Wyoming Valley grew -- banks grew with it -- so by the late 1920s just about every city and borough would have its own bank.  Luzerne Borough was no different.  What is unique about Luzerne Bank is it was one of the first banks to be organized outside of downtown Wilkes-Barre .  Luzerne Borough, with its coal and lumber operations, obviously had growing business district, large labor pool and hence need for a local bank.  

But more importantly is Luzerne’s physical location.  At a gateway to the Back Mountain , with its prosperous farms and lumber industries, Luzerne’s strategic location made an ideal setting for a bank.  

The first organizational meetings were held at Henry C. Johnson’s Hardware Company during the summer of 1907.  The bank opened with a capitalization of $50,000 and divided into 500 shares at $100 per share.  There were 71 original stockholders.  

Offices for banking rooms were rented at a building owned by John T. Snyder at 118 Main Street . By 1922, the bank would build its own building on the same spot.  

Calvin Perrin, Luzerne Bank’s first chairman, recorded in November of 1908 that 817 accounts had been opened with deposits of $178, 642 (nearly $4 million by today’s standards).  Within 5 years Luzerne Bank would have 4,000 bank accounts in a borough with a population of 6,000.  

Luzerne Bank was founded and organized by Luzerne men of means and leadership of their day  – plus men of impeccable reputation from Kingston and Wilkes-Barre who lent there names and capital to get the bank off the ground.  

On the occasion of the bank’s 50th anniversary, Cashier George M. Harris reflected in a published letter to the newspapers stating, “I was fortunate to work with a splendid group of men who constituted the board of directors.  They had commanded respect and esteem.”  

Personal reputation is important to banking, particularly in a small community.  Local Luzerne men such as Henry C. Johnson and William J. Parry had fine main street business reputations.  Joining them as founding directors and early stockholders were Civil War Veteran Calvin Perrin, owner of Payne & Perrin and onetime Burgess of Luzerne; Sherman P. Frantz, a well-known butcher and purveyor of a "first-class market"; Forty Fort attorney Frederick W. Denniston; and Ira T. Honeywell, furniture dealer and undertaker.

100 years ago certain family names in the Wyoming Valley seemed to bring instant creditably to any business endeavor.  Descendants of the original pioneer settlers were well established in business and finance by the beginning of the 20th Century and brought instant respect and credibility.  

Names such as Butler , Hollenback, Shoemaker, Reynolds, Nesbitt, Dorrance, Swetland, Pettebone and Conyngham were known to every single resident of the Wyoming Valley .  

One such man with a name of distinction that served on the founding board of Luzerne Bank was John Butler Reynolds, a pioneer in transportation issues at the turn of the century.  Butler Reynolds, a lawyer by training, was instrumental in building the first electric railway in the Wyoming Valley and the second bridge to cross the Susquehanna River – the North Street Bridge .   Reynolds was a grandson (on his father’s side) of Benjamin Reynolds, one of the founders of the Wyoming Bank and a great-great grandson of Zebulon Butler – commander of the American forces during the Battle of Wyoming.  

Other men of distinction to be early shareholders in the bank include Attorney Granville J. Clark, organizer of the Tunkhannock & Wyoming Valley Telephone Co. and Frederick N. Ruggles, owner of Ruggles Lumber Company.  

As with the past 100 years, Luzerne Bank continues its association with descendants of the original shareholders and directors.  Today, Henry C. Johnson, grandson of a founding director, is still a shareholder and his father, Stanley Johnson served as Bank Chairman for 18 years.  The bank is also proud of its long association with the Moore family.  Guy W. Moore, the business manger of the Wilkes-Barre Record served the bank some 50 years and today his grandson continues the tradition as a shareholder.  

Current board chairman, attorney Joseph Kluger’s family has had a long association with Luzerne Bank and the banking industry in the Wyoming Valley .  Joe’s father, Allan Kluger served as Bank Chairman and his grandfather Samuel Kluger serve as the cashier of the First National Bank of Wyoming , now the Wyoming office of Luzerne Bank.  The old fashion title, Cashier corresponds to President & CEO.

Much has changed in the operation of Luzerne Bank over the years.  From two employees and hand-written ledger entries to 90 employees and complete computerization, the bank has earned its longevity because it has consistently catered to the needs of local people.  

Through the 1930s management and directors stayed the steady course.  Even at the height of the depression, the bank’s soundness was verified by federal examiners following President Roosevelt’s orders that all banks close.  “While your officers and directors knew that our bank was in a sound condition we were all mighty pleased when we received the wire giving us permission to reopen,” were written in the 1933 minutes book.  

Following World War II the bank continued on a growth path while concentrating on its geographic niche.  In a 1944 letter to shareholders bank president William D. Taylor wrote, “There is a ray of sunshine!  There is resumption in production of civilian goods, including refrigerators, washing machines, autos, stoves, etc.  It is from the financing of these items that we look for an increase in earnings and profits.”  

The profits did increase and were reinvested back into the bank.  Drive-in service and a walk-up window were added, new employees hired, internal operations improved and by the 1970s branch expansion was on the horizon.  

Through the 1990s the bank charted an aggressive physical expansion and reported record profits.  Through all the changes the bank continued to focus on the Wyoming Valley and retain a local board.

Luzerne Bank’s success is attributed to the loyalty and commitment of our customers, shareholders and employees, for which we are very grateful.  We look forward to continued success.  Happy 100th Anniversary.