First Financial Bank - We're Texas
Forty-five years following Texas' statehood, Farmers and Merchants National Bank (First Financial Bank) opened in Abilene in 1890, founded to provide critical support for a region essential to the state's rapid economic growth. We played a vital role in the early days - and continue to today - in the food, fuel and fiber industries that drive our state's economy. First Financial Bank has grown from a small regional bank to a nationally-respected, statewide industry leader with 80 locations only in Texas. We are proud of our Texas roots and will continue serving Texans with the same determination and vision our founders displayed many years ago. We are First Financial Bank. We're Texas.
Our History and Timeline
First Financial Bank's origins date back to 1890, when Farmers and Merchants National Bank opened for business in Abilene, Texas. At the time, Abilene was home to over 3,000 optimistic pioneers. That first year, depositors entrusted us with $33,000, which was a significant amount of money back then. Needless to say, things grew pretty quickly from there.
In 1957, responding to a more diversified economy, we changed our name to First National Bank of Abilene. And then, in 1973, the shareholders formed First Abilene Bankshares, Inc. as a multibank holding company.
While most banks struggled through the turbulence of the 1980s, we were busy expanding, adding more branch locations and introducing the concept of supermarket banking. We also had the honor of being nationally recognized as one of the safest banking organizations in the United States.
In October 1993, we changed our name to First Financial Bankshares, Inc., to better reflect the scope of our operations. This coincided with our listing on The NASDAQ Global Select Market® under the trading symbol FFIN.
A decade later, the trust departments from our Abilene, Sweetwater, San Angelo, and Stephenville regions consolidated to form a new trust company – First Financial Trust & Asset Management Company, N.A.
In 2005, First National Bank of Abilene changed its name to First Financial Bank and added new locations in Clyde and Moran.
We are continuously offering new, more convenient ways to bank with state-of-the-art services and technology. Even though we’ve grown quite a bit over the years, our commitment to our relationships has remained the same.
