San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
S.A. didn’t give up on getting Fed branch office
First of two columns
I’m sending you a picture of the original Federal Reserve cornerstone plaque after it was removed from the original building, which now houses the Mexican consulate. It was subsequently given to my grandfather Reagan Houston, who was named as the first chair of the bank. I am curious how these original directors were selected. Three were chosen by the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C.; the rest were chosen by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. I am interested to know more about the background of Ernest Steves, R.T. Hunnicutt of Del Rio and Harry H. Rogers, as well as the others.
I read with interest your article on F.E. Scobey (Dec. 2, 2023). Scobey also was an original member of the Federal Reserve Bank chartered in 1928. I thought I knew about Scobey, but you turned up other information. His connections in politics and to the U.S. Mint made the connection to my original question: How were these men selected for such an important task, not to mention a great honor? I was also interested in their individual backgrounds.
The Federal Reserve Bank, among other things, controls money supply and interest rates, supervising and regulating financial institutions and fostering a safe payment and settlement system for U.S. dollar transactions. Eight times a year, the Federal Reserve issues the Beige Book, an in-depth study of U.S. financial conditions. The various branches give detailed information about their local area that is compiled into the report.
I really think you should put together a history of the beginning of the local Federal Reserve branch — why San Antonio was selected rather than Austin, El Paso or Laredo, and the background of each of the organizing directors, including how they were chosen.
— Reagan Houston Often called the “bankers’ bank,” the Federal Reserve Bank was established in 1914 as a system — a decentralized central bank with the main bank in Washington, D.C., and 12 branches to serve regions all over the country.
Although there was some local interest in promoting San Antonio as a location for one of these banks, the honor went to Dallas. San Antonio’s population was slightly higher — 96,614 as of the 1910 U.S. census, compared with Dallas at 92,104 — but the then-smaller city was awarded the branch that served the region that included Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico and part of Arizona. Dallas was thought to be the more up-andcoming economic environment, with more new-business filings and more check clearances during the planning period.
Members of the San Antonio business community didn’t give up, lobbying for years for another Texas branch. What we have is actually a branch of a branch — the San Antonio branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
The San Antonio Clearing House Association, representing area banks, had submitted applications three times before the city was selected for a Federal Reserve branch, said
James Hoard, communications vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Approval was required by both the Federal Reserve System board of governors in Washington, D.C., and the Dallas
Fed directors.
The San Antonio group, led by J.K. Beretta, president of the National Bank of Commerce, submitted its first formal application March 6, 1919, at the same time as the Houston Clearing House Association. “However, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors approved only one branch office, so San Antonio withdrew its application,” Hoard said. “The San
Members of the San Antonio business community didn’t give up, lobbying for years for another
Texas branch.
Antonio application was renewed in May and again in September of 1919, but the decision was that the area did not require another branch.”
When the application was submitted for the fourth time, on Oct. 6, 1926, it was referred to a committee for further study and ultimately approved.
The application, Hoard said, had successfully “presented a case on the need for a branch that included the level of business and banking activity in San Antonio and South Texas,
the amount of expected commercial growth, population projections and availability of roads and rail lines, which were used to transport currency to and from commercial banks.”
The new branch, Hoard said, “opened in temporary quarters in the Frost National Bank building, occupying the mezzanine floor and part of the basement.”
Local architects Atlee B. Ayres and son Robert M. Ayres designed the San Antonio
Fed’s purpose-built headquarters at Navarro and Villita streets on what had been Bowen’s Island, a former peninsula in the San Antonio River. That section of the river was filled in for development that included the Plaza Hotel (now Granada Homes) and Smith-Young Tower (now Tower Life Building).
Unlike its tall neighbors, the
neoclassical bank building was a well-designed two stories and basement — all fire-proof with state-of-the-art security for the massive vault. Built for $275,000, according to the San Antonio Light, Oct. 17, 1928, the building took a speedy 10 months to complete and opened in late October 1928 “to serve the needs of more than 100 banks in South and West Texas.”
Outgrowing these premises, the branch “moved to a new building on Nueva Street in 1956 to accommodate growing responsibilities,” Hoard said. In 2014, it moved to its current Dwyer Avenue location.
Examining the