While our name - First Bank - may be relatively new, our roots run deep in Sterling and Rice County. Originally known as Farmers State Bank, the bank opened for business in Sterling on March 24, 1908 with Frank W. Ross as president. The previous November the bank was incorporated by a group of farsighted community business, farmers and stockmen who sold 500 shares at $100 per share to investors in the community. The remainder of the century, six other men helped shape the destiny of the bank serving as its president: J.D. Zimmerman, Floyd W. Ross, George T. Chandler, Anderson W. Chandler, Jerome L. Chandler and currently Jeff Laudermilk. In 1993 a series of exciting changes began for the Farmers State Bank. First National Bank in Sterling, Kansas was acquired. Carl Dudrey became the Chairman of the Board. Then, Coronado Bank in Lyons, Kansas, and Bank Chase in Chase, Kansas were purchased. From its earliest days until the present, the goals of the bank have been constant - to protect our depositor's funds and to assist our communities to grow and prosper. We know that our customers are our most important asset, and it's really because of them that we have grown through our long history to be one of the largest and strongest banks in the area.
