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First National Bank of White Bluffs

Black and white photo of the interior of a cluttered bank. A man in a suit stands at the center-left of the room.
The First National Bank of White Bluffs served the small pre-Manhattan Project community of White Bluffs.

HANFORD HISTORY PROJECT

The First National Bank of White Bluffs served the small pre-Manhattan Project community of White Bluffs. The economy of White Bluffs grew to the size to support a bank in the later part of the first decade of the twentieth century. New irrigation systems resulted in an increase in the number of new farms in the area and a bank in the area would allow potential new farmers in the area to finance their farms. The bank was built in 1907-1908. The outer walls of the bank were built out of cast concrete blocks. The inside the walls were coated with plaster and decorated with wallpaper. The roof consisted of a wooden truss system. The inside of the bank had a large public banking area, a large vault, and two private offices. There was a door with ornate trim that served as the entrance to the vault. The bank put out an ad in a local newspaper boasting of their fireproof vault. The vault walls were fireproof, but it had the same flammable wooden roof as the rest of the bank. The bank was heated by a potbelly stove located between one of the private offices and the ornate door that led to the vault. It was lit by electric light bulbs hanging by wires from the ceiling. 

The image above is the only known photograph of the inside of the bank while it was still in use as a bank. Pictured on the left is Willard Kincaid, the manager and teller for the bank. To the left of Mr. Kincaid is decorative chicken wire separating the teller’s area from the main banking area. The door in the middle of the photo is to one of the private offices. The ornate door on the right leads to the vault, and in between the office and vault doors is the stove used to heat the bank. Pictured on the far right is one of the lightbulbs hanging on wire from the ceiling. 

The bank was first incorporated in 1909 with $10,000 in capital. The first president of the bank was L.W. Johnson, the vice president Fred Wiel, and the manager Willard Kincaid. Mr. Kincaid handled most of the day-to-day operations of the bank. Kincaid became involved in the bank in 1909 when he was in his mid-20’s when he started his career with the bank. Kincaid was a notable figure in the White Bluffs community. He was involved in town administration and was a member of the White Bluffs Cemetery Association. His daughter Virginia also worked in the bank with him for a short time. Kincaid ran the bank all the way up until it closed in the early 1940s.  

There were several other banks incorporated in the Priest Rapids Valley around the same time as the bank in White Bluffs. There were banks in Richland, Hanford, and Kennewick. In 1914 high water charges and a faltering economy drove many farmers out of business. The area could no longer sustain so many banks, so the Hanford bank turned over its deposits over to the bank in White Bluffs. After the merger the White Bluffs bank serviced most of the Priest Rapids Valley. The bank in Richland remained in business but was restructured in 1914.  

The White Bluffs Bank was robbed in March 1922. At 1 am Jas Sells, a local, witnessed a man leaving the bank who she assumed to be the manager, Willard Kincaid. The man she witnessed was not Willard Kincaid but one of three robbers who had just tried to steal from the bank. The robbers were captured the next day. Apparently, the vault proved too much for the robbers as they did not get away with any money in the attempt. The three men were imprisoned in the Walla Walla penitentiary from between five to twenty-five years. 

The bank started to falter along with the entire economy of the community when The Great Depression began in 1942. The bank did not escape the initial economic catastrophe but ultimately survived the depression, continuing to publish newspaper ads. However, in 1932 a financial account in the White Bluffs Spokesman showed the bank was experiencing difficult times. In 1932 the bank brought in just over $76,000 in total revenue. In 1933 the pace of decline in bank revenues accelerated. Revenue decreased by almost $26,000. With just $50,000 in revenue, the future of the bank looked bleak. The bank was temporarily closed by President Roosevelt’s national banking holiday. When the bank reopened, it did so on a restricted basis until January of 1934. Upon reopening there were $12,000 available to depositors. The bank had to add new service charges to make up lost revenue from new banking regulations. Banks could no longer make money from speculation with deposited money, so new forms of income had to be established. The bank could not loan deposited money anymore meaning it lost even more revenue due to lost interest on loans. The bank now charged service fees on almost all the services they provided, including charges for handling cheques from out-of-town banks, for keeping papers in the safe, and more. The economic devastation caused by the Great Depression continued throughout the rest of the 1930s and 40s. The population of White Bluffs had declined from its peak of about five hundred to about two hundred by 1942. The decrease in population combined with the depressed revenue from the lower quantity of business and new banking regulations meant that the community could no longer support the bank. 

Shortly after the closing of the bank the building became a post office. The fire-resistant concrete construction and bank vault were important features for postal security. The building was used as a post office until the land was requisitioned for the Manhattan Project. All the remaining businesses, including the post office, were closed and all the people still living in the area were evicted. However, the bank found another use in 1955 when it became a storage facility for the Hanford Fire Department. 

Left abandoned, by 2012 the bank was in rough shape. Many of the roof trusses had collapsed and the sheathing was sparse and warped. This view from the inside reveals the condition that the roof was in. The sky can be seen through the roof now made only of old rotting lumber.  

The Department of Energy began a historical reconstruction of the bank in 2017. Today the bank is reconstructed and open to visitors on the Pre-Manhattan Project Tour program, but much of the bank’s original materials had to be replaced. The roof was entirely replaced, new doors and windows replaced shattered glass, and two of the outer walls had to be almost entirely reconstructed. The White Bluffs Bank now stands alone, a small snippet of the community that once surrounded it. 

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Manhattan Project National Historical Park

Last updated: April 4, 2023