Our History
Century Bank and Trust, formerly known as The Merchants and Farmers Bank, opened for business in Georgia's Antebellum Capitol City of Milledgeville on March 1, 1898. The Bank's first president was Samuel Evans, a native North Carolinian. Sam served during the Civil War as Jefferson Davis' personal bodyguard. After the war, Sam moved his family to Milledgeville where he became engaged in the manufacture of plug tobacco laced with Cuban molasses. He also owned a grocery store, a cotton warehouse and general supply business. Sam, along with the Bank's Cashier Madison McCraw, ran the Bank until 1902 when Sam resigned due to poor health and Madison left to open a dry goods store.
In 1979, the Merchants and Farmers Bank expanded operations by opening a northside branch and constructed a drive-up motor bank behind its main office building. While the main office facility has been renovated and expanded several times during the past century, the largest renovation project occurred in 1992. The Bank purchased the old Joiner's Market building next door and completely rebuilt the main office. The inclusion of this new space more than doubled the size of the previous Bank building.
Management realized in 1987 that the nature of banking had changed and that Merchants and Farmers Bank would have to diversify beyond its traditional banking boundaries if it were to remain a viable enterprise. The Bank's long-range plan was amended, and a new commitment was made to offer our customers the most modern services available at the lowest practical cost. That year, the Bank established its Trust and Financial Services Division giving our customers access to estate, retirement and financial planning. This addition also enabled the Bank to provide our customers with investment management and brokerage services. In 1993, the Bank's name was changed to Century Bank and Trust to reflect the Bank's evolving and growing role within the financial services industry.
Our Mission
Since 1898, Century Bank & Trust has operated as an independent community bank under local control. The Boards of the Bank and Century Bancorp, Inc., remain convinced, unless faced with strong evidence and trends to the contrary, that this direction can continue to offer against other alternatives, higher returns, a superior level of service to our customers, a more positive impact on the communities we serve, and more rewarding careers to our employees.
The mission of Century Bank & Trust is to provide, at the lowest practical cost, a wide range of banking, trust and other selected financial services to the people, businesses and public entities of Baldwin County and its contiguous counties, while attaining an approved set of goals and objectives. These goals and objectives must be set only after careful consideration of our main objective which is to deliver an above average rate of return to the Company's shareholders, while adhering to the principles of safety and soundness.
