What fascinates me most about collecting national bank notes is that they run the gamut from the largest, most well known institutions to the smallest, most personable institution. Because I live in Yolo County, California 
, just west of Sacramento County, I am intrigued with the four national banks in Yolo County that issued national bank notes.
One of these is The Bank of Woodland, National Association.
Bank of Woodland was Yolo County's first banking institution when organized in 1868, with $100,000 in capital. Founding stockholders came from across the county and included merchants, farmers, and millers. While urban banks used images of industry or liberty on their checks, the Bank of Woodland paid tribute to its agrarian customer base with a picture of a bull prominently displayed on its checks. It was one of those checks that cost the bank dearly.
In the days before electronic banking, the surest way to guarantee a check's value was for a merchant to use a safety mechanism that punched a check's value on or through the paper. In the 1890's, one of Bank of Woodland's customers wrote a check for twelve dollars — but a forger took the twelve dollar check and recast it as a twenty-two thousand dollar check! The forger even used a pin to punch meticulously the supposed safety values through the check.
Only later was the fraud discovered....
Despite this fraud, the bank continued to expand its business and capital base into the early twentieth century. In 1916 the Bank of Woodland expanded further by merging with the Yolo County Savings Bank (YCSB) and assumed YCSB's offices. The YCSB had built its headquarters in 1903, on the corner of Main and College Streets. It was built from the finest brownstone, with traditional, rich banking accents. As part of the merger, the combined enterprise sought a national charter as the Bank of Woodland, National Association, and received charter number 10878.
Although the Bank of Woodland, NA, was formed during the period of large-note issuance, it curiously did not issue any of its own notes until the small-size note period of 1929. Over the six years of its note issuance, it issued $865,570 of fives, tens, and twenties. Because of its agrarian area, it issued no fifty or hundred dollar bills. The issuance comprised of both Series 1929 Type 1 (pre-March 1933 "bank holiday" ) and Type 2 (post-March 1933 bank holiday) notes.
In 1960, American Trust merged with Wells Fargo, and the building served as a Wells Fargo American Trust Company branch for another three years. In 1963 the branch moved one block down College Street to the corner of Court Street.
The YCSB building is now a Mexican restaurant that offers excellent food and a rare opportunity to dine in a vault. If you ever find yourself in Woodland , I highly recommend a visit along College Street between Main and Court where you can see one example of Wells Fargo's community connection for over 100 years.
Wow, cool history!
Great article....I think I will have to visit Woodland now and I love the bull!
I would love to dine in the vault!