Family Trust Center dedicated as a reminder of Rock Hill’s history and ‘bridge to the future’

Family Trust Federal Credit Union celebrated coming full circle Thursday, reopening its offices on West White Street in downtown Rock Hill.

More than 50 years ago, Family Trust began as the Rock Hill Printing & Finishing Co. credit union. The entire operations of the credit union were kept in a mail room cigar box.

Credit union operations moved to the guard shack of the complex, commony called the Bleachery. It then moved Russell’s Grocery.

In 1967, Family Trust built its headquarters at the corner of West White and Laurel streets. The building was constructed by volunteers from the Bleachery. Transactions at the headquarters were limited as the credit union didn’t offer checking accounts then. Members would take checks drawn on their credit union accounts and cash them at Rock Hill National Bank on Oakland Avenue.

The old credit union building was demolished in May 2014.

On Thursday, the new Family Trust Center was officially dedicated as a reminder of Rock Hill’s textile history and a “bridge to the future.”

Lee Gardner, president and CEO of Family Trust, talked about how “the Lord has circled us to where we had our humble beginnings.”

One of the Gardner’s first acts as manager of Family Trust was to create a teller line and later a drive-thru to serve members at the White Street location.

The new Family Trust Center has neither, a reflection of the changes in the banking business, he said.

Cash transactions are not the priority they once were, Gardner said. The result is the teller line has been replaced by kiosks where credit union representatives provide a range of services to members.

The new center does not have a drive-thru window. Family Trust didn’t want to create a traffic generator in what is envisioned as a walking community.

Thursday’s dedication also was a chance to say “thank you” to the long-time members of the credit union who worked at the Bleachery.

Carroll Hester Jr.’s credit union membership number is less than 150. He originally thought the credit union was only open to the plant’s union workers. When he found any employee could join Hester signed up, putting a small portion of his $65 a week supervisor’s pay into the credit union.

Hester, like many members, took advantage of credit union loans. In his case, it was to pay his car insurance.

Carrie Mae Reeves and her husband, Sidney, use credit union loans to buy Harley-Davidson motorcycles. They just made their final payment on the last Harley, she said.

James Branham, whose credit union number is in the 300s, said he once was reluctant to put his money – he earned 79 cents an hour initially – into the cigar box, but soon saw the benefits of saving. One of his first credit union loans was to buy a tractor.

This story was originally published October 8, 2015 at 5:41 PM with the headline "Family Trust Center dedicated as a reminder of Rock Hill’s history and ‘bridge to the future’."