Wachiova Bank
Wachiova Bank
"A Wells Fargo Company"
Address:
42420 WASHINGTON ST,
BERMUDA DUNES, CA 92203
Phone: (760)200-4692
Fax: (760)200-4760
Days Lobby Hours
Mon. 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tue. 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wed. 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thu. 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Fri. 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sat. 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Sun. Closed
Wachovia is now part of Wells Fargo.
Together, we’re one of North America’s largest and most diverse financial services companies with a legendary reputation for strength and stability, offering more convenience and resources to help you reach your financial goals. We can serve you through more than 11,000 stores, over 12,000 ATMs, the Internet and other distribution channels across North America and internationally.
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified financial services company providing banking insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance. We're headquartered in San Francisco, but we're decentralized so every local Wells Fargo store is a headquarters for satisfying all our customers' financial needs and helping them succeed financially.
We're Number 1 in the U.S. in community banking presence (6,600 stores), mortgage originations, small business lending, middle market commercial banking, agricultural lending, commercial real estate lending, commercial real estate brokerage and bank-owned insurance brokerage. We're Number 2 in deposits, home mortgage servicing, and debit card. For more detailed information, please visit the Wells Fargo Web site.
Company History
Wells Fargo
The story of our company begins in 1852 in New York City with one idea and two men: Henry Wells and William Fargo. Their idea: start a banking and transportation company founded on trust, service and courtesy.
Today’s Wells Fargo—resulting from the Norwest Corporation 1998 acquisition of Wells Fargo—is a blend of thousands of companies, like Wachovia, each with rich histories of service and all sharing values that our company has stood for since 1852. Through Wachovia, the Wells Fargo legacy now traces back to 1781 and the Bank of North America, the first bank chartered in the United States. Wachovia brings to Wells Fargo The Bank of North America's first branch, opened in 1782, which is now the longest continuously operated branch in America. To learn more, please visit Wells Fargo's History, Museums, and Store.
Wachovia Corporation
Wachovia was formed by the 2001 merger of First Union Corporation and the former Wachovia Corporation. In connection with the merger, First Union changed its name to Wachovia Corporation.
First Union
First Union's modest beginnings were in the Buford Hotel on Charlotte's Tryon Street not long after the turn of the 20th century. H. M. Victor raised funds to start Union National by selling 1,000 shares of stock at $100 each, then set up his office at a roll-up desk in the hotel's main lobby.
Victor soon earned a reputation as a conservative banker who always confirmed his customers' creditworthiness before making a loan. For years, Victor even refused to make loans on the newly invented automobile. When he finally relented with a loan on a Model-T, he held the owner's keys and title until the loan was repaid.
As Union National grew, it maintained a reputation for high credit quality, strong financial performance and excellent customer service. It was this viability that kept the bank open during the 1930s, when the Depression closed many others.
In 1958, Union National merged with First National Bank and Trust Company of Asheville, forming First Union National Bank of North Carolina. By 1964 First Union further diversified by acquiring Raleigh-based Cameron-Brown Company, a national mortgage banking and insurance firm.
Over the decades, First Union grew into a diversified financial service company encompassing retail brokerage services, wealth management, corporate and investment banking, as well as traditional banking.
Wachovia
When William A. Lemly decided in 1879 to relocate his bank from the quiet Moravian village of Salem to the bustling county seat of Winston, he needed more than a crew of movers. Although the relocation involved moving only a few blocks up the street, changing towns required a new charter and a new name.
Both became effective on June 16, 1879, with the opening of the doors of the new Wachovia National Bank. The bank started business with capital of $100,000, which its directors felt was "very adequate."
Some years later, on June 15, 1893, North Carolina's first trust company - Wachovia Loan and Trust Company - opened its doors for business in the rapidly growing town of Winston. Its two-man staff was headed by a prominent textile and railroad entrepreneur, Francis H. Fries (pronounced "freeze").
In 1911, the two Wachovia's merged to form Wachovia Bank and Trust Company. The consolidated bank began operations with deposits of $4 million, capital stock of $1.25 million and total resources of $7 million. It was the largest bank in the South and the largest trust operation between Baltimore and New Orleans.
Origin of the Name
In 1753, Moravian settlers bought about 100,000 acres in the North Carolina Piedmont. They called the land "Wachau" in appreciation of their benefactor, Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf.
"Wachovia" (pronounced wa-KO-vee-yah) comes from "Wachau," the name given by Moravian settlers in 1753 to the tract of about 100,000 acres that they purchased in the North Carolina Piedmont.
Wachau, from the German words "die Wach au" - "Wach" was the name of a stream and "au" means "meadowland" - was a part of Austria, the ancestral home of the Moravians' benefactor, Count Zinzendorf, and, likewise, an area of abundant streams and pastures along a river (the Danube).
The settlers named the Carolina tract bought just east of the Yadkin River Wachau as an expression of appreciation to Zinzendorf. Later, the English form Wachovia was used.
Over the years, the name Wachovia ceased to be used as a designation for the area but remained a popular name for businesses that originated in the Moravian village of Salem and the adjoining town of Winston, which merged in 1913 to form Winston-Salem.
Sources: "The Moravians and Their Town of Salem," Division of Historical Programs, Old Salem Inc., Archivist Daniel Crews.
© 2009 Wachovia Corporation. All rights reserved.
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