One of the most photographed spots in Bay St. Louis following Hurricane Katrina was where Main Street meets Beach Boulevard. Although the spot is one of the highest points on the entire Gulf coast, the hurricane did its best to ravage this historical intersection. Storm stricken residents, however, both present and dislocated, took some comfort in recognizing a familiar landmark that somehow withstood the otherwise almost complete devastation. Battered, but still standing, was the Hancock Bank building on the site the institution has occupied for more than 100 years.
The history of Hancock Bank is significantly intertwined with the history of Hancock County thorughout the twentieth century. During the final months of the nineteenth century, it was recognized that Hancock County, with its growing economy, could no longer function efficiently without a bank. Bay St. Louis, in its capacity as the seat of county government and trade center for the area’s flourishing lumber business and new seafood canning industry, seemed the obvious location for the county’s first bank. Accordingly, in August of 1899, a number of Hancock County citizens met at the County Court House and organized a bank to serve the people of the county. Those in attendance included J. A. Breath, Joseph F. Cazeneuve, L. A. deMontluzin, the brother George H. and Frank B. Dunbar, Thomas L. Evans, John B. Fahey, Peter Hellwige and his son Peter E. Hellwige, E. F. Hoffman, August Kellar, Charles Marshall, Richard Mendes, Charles G. Moreau, John Osoinach, Mrs. Agnes T. Phillips. Eugene H. Roberts, L.N.C. Spotorno and John V. Toulme. These persons represented 198 shares and, on the same evening of organization, a board of nine directors was directed. Selected as the new bank’s first president was Peter Hellwege, an investment broker from New Orleans who lived in Bay St. Louis.
On October 9, 1899, a little less than three months before the beginning of the twentieth century, the Hancock County Bank opened for business with a paid-up capital of $10,000 and deposits totaling $8,337.41. The first Hancock Bank building was a small cottage-like frame structure and was located on “the front” on a plot of ground near and later owned by St. Joseph’s Academy. The new bank rented this structure that had previously been used as the City Hall for $7.00 per month.
Within weeks of signing the bank’s charter, the original board of directors purchased a site at Main Street and South Beach Boulevard and began construction of Bay St. Louis’ first two story building to house the Hancock County Bank, the post office and the United States Custom Office. And it is this building that still stands today surviving more than its share of natural disasters. Although the bank’s charter was amended in the early 1930’s to move the bank’s domicile to Gulfport, this original building still serves as the main Bay St. Louis branch.