SNOQUALMIE – When Bank of America closes its Snoqualmie branch next month, it may not mean much to the massive financial institution but it will be a bookend to one history of banking in the Valley.

Bank of America, which has more than 5,880 locations in 29 states and Washington D.C., will be closing its Snoqualmie branch on Oct. 14. As of July 2004, the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank had 237 locations in Washington state, more than any other bank.

Bank of America spokesperson Diane Wagner said the branch closure is part of a wider consolidation the bank is doing, but other Valley locations in North Bend and Carnation will remain open. The bank’s history in Snoqualmie is deep and goes back to the Valley’s first banks that began in the earliest years of the area’s history. In 1919, two years after the Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Co. opened its mill outside Snoqualmie, the State Bank of Snoqualmie was opened and was located in the back of Snoqualmie pioneer Otto Reinig’s store (now True Value Hardware on Falls Avenue).

In 1923, another bank was built across the street on the corner of River Street and Falls Avenue and would be the headquarters for a chain of banks that started as the Duvall State Bank in 1912. By 1923, the bank chain covered the whole Eastside all the way to Bellevue, and in 1929, purchased the State Bank of Snoqualmie. That bank chain grew to become The Washington State Bank until 1956, when it was purchased by Seattle First National Bank (Seafirst Bank).

For the next 20 years the branch served the city of Snoqualmie from its historic building on the corner of Falls Avenue and River Street. In 1976, the bank made the move to a new location on River Street. The old bank building was sold to the city of Snoqualmie (with $1 from then-mayor Charles Peterson’s pocket) and became city hall (it is now home to the city’s planning department).

With the exception of the Sno-Falls Credit Union, the Seafirst bank was the only financial institution in Snoqualmie for many years. Seafirst was purchased by Bank of America in 1983 and Snoqualmie gained another bank in 2002 when Key Bank opened a branch in the city’s Snoqualmie Ridge neighborhood.

Valley historians may lament the passing of the bank but some customers are more upset that their closest bank will no longer be in Snoqualmie. Customers got a letter this summer stating that the bank would be closing and that their accounts could be moved to either the Carnation or North Bend branch.

The North Bend branch is just a few miles from Snoqualmie, but that is too far to go for a crowded bank, said Snoqualmie resident and Bank of America customer Ray McGowan, who also said the Carnation branch is too out of the way.

“Like I am ever going to pass through Carnation [on a regular basis],” he said.

Wagner would not comment extensively on why the Snoqualmie bank was closing but said the number of users of the bank is one of the factors taken into account. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) Web site, the Snoqualmie Bank of America branch had $17,745 in deposits (as of June 30, 2004) while the bank’s North Bend branch on Bendigo Boulevard had $31,029. The Carnation branch had $25,646.

McGowan and other customers are hoping that a show of support for the Snoqualmie branch may be able to save it. Earlier this year, Bank of American announced it would close banks in Darrington, Okanagon, Republic, Sumas and Sultan. After community members complained about the banks closing, Bank of America announced it would keep the Republic, Sumas and Sultan branches open.

McGowan is hoping a similar reaction can save the Snoqualmie branch and has been telling customers to call Bank of America customer service. The number for local customer service is (800) 442-6680.

If the bank remains on schedule to be closed, it will leave Snoqualmie with just two financial institutions within its city limits. Snoqualmie has a Key Bank branch in its Snoqualmie Ridge neighborhood and there is a Sno-Falls Credit Union branch at the intersection of State Route 202 and Meadowbrook Way.

Editor Ben Cape can be reached at (425) 888-2311 or by e-mail at ben.cape@valleyrecord.com.