First Merchants Bank records

First Merchants Bank was founded as Merchants National Bank on February 3, 1893. At that time, Muncie was enjoying the prosperity of a natural gas boom, which attracted many commercial and industrial enterprises to the city. Hardin Roads, a prominent local grocer, was named the bank’s first president and chairman of the board, positions he held until 1923.

In 1914, the bank moved from its original location at the corner of Main and Mulberry Streets to a new location at the corner of Jackson and Mulberry Streets. The new building, built for the sum of $45,000 was an impressive limestone structure with an elaborate marble interior. The building served as the Merchants National Bank headquarters for nearly sixty years. In 1933, at the height of the Great Depression, the bank emerged as one of two survivors of a merger of Muncie’s “clearing house” banks (Merchants Trust and Savings Company was the other survivor). In 1946, the two banks were reorganized into separate institutions, with Merchant’s Trust later becoming American National Bank.

In 1951, Merchants National Bank opened the first branch bank in Delaware County at the corner of Madison and 14th Streets. In 1953, the bank acquired the Muncie Banking Company and opened up branches in Muncie Banking’s old facilities at 115 E. Charles Street in Eaton. Two years later, the bank launched a renovation and expansion program of its downtown offices, completing the project in 1956. In 1958, the bank opened a branch in the Southway Plaza. A year later, it opened another branch in the Village near Ball State. In 1968, Merchants National Bank became the first commercial bank in Delaware County to attain more than $100 million in assets. In 1972, the bank moved into its new five story headquarters building on E. Jackson Street. The bank changed its name to First Merchants Bank in 1991. In 1992, the bank's assets topped $500 million.

First Merchants Bank is currently a division of First Merchants Corporation, the largest financial holding company based in Central Indiana, with assets exceeding $5 billion. First Merchants Bank operates branches in Adams, Brown, Delaware, Fayette, Hamilton, Hendricks, Henry, Howard, Jay, Johnson, Lake, Madison, Marion, Miami, Morgan, Porter, Randolph, Shelby, Union, Wabash, and Wayne counties in Indiana, Cook and DuPage Counties in Illinois, and Butler County in Ohio.