THE BANKS THEY HAD ROBBED

HOME BANK OF GRAPEVINE (TEXAS)

Robbed by Barrow associates Odell Chambliss and Les Stewart, the Home Bank
was founded in 1900 by local banker R.E. Morrow. The bank had closed it's
doors in 1933. An investigation into this robbery had led police to the home
of Raymond Hamilton's sister, Lillie McBride. This resulted in the killing
of Malcolm Davis by Clyde Barrow, who showed up at the McBride home.


photo courtesy of Renay Stanard




FIRST STATE BANK AT CEDAR HILL (TEXAS)

Raymond Hamilton equipped with a gun and a freshly stolen car, walked into this
bank on October 8, 1932 and left with $1,400, and again on November 25th the
following month. This time, he hit them up for $1,800 with the help of Les Stewart.

photo courtesy of Renay Stanard




ORIGINAL BANK OF ALMA (ARKANSAS)
The building with the tan colored brick front and the sign is the original
"Bank of Alma" building. It was built sometime shortly after the bank's formation
in 1902. You can see in the upper right-hand corner, the original red brick
construction. In 1930, after the merger of the Bank of Alma and the Commercial Bank,
the resulting institution - "The Commercial Bank of Alma"- did business from this
building until the 1960's. It then moved about a mile north to a site on US 64.
The old building was sold and is now a chiropractor's office.


photo courtesy of James R. Knight




"THE COMMERCIAL BANK OF ALMA" (ARKANSAS)

On June 22nd 1933, Buck Barrow and W.D. Jones were believed to have
kidnapped Alma Marshal Henry D. Humphrey, and forced him to enter the
Commercial Bank with them. After tying him to a piller, they loaded the
bank's safe into a truck, and vanished out of sight with $3,600.

courtesy of Phillip Young




COMMERCIAL BANK (ARKANSAS)

This view is from the sidewalk in front of the building in picture #1
looking northeast toward the old Commercial Bank building- The one
with the single green pillar in front. This is the building in the
Phillip Young photo. You will notice a small space between it and
the next building to the right. This is the alley down which Marshall
Humphrey was lured and captured.


photo courtesy of James R. Knight




R.P. HENRY & SONS BANK
LANCASTER, TEXAS
On February 27, 1932, while Bonnie Parker waited in the getaway car,
Clyde and Raymond Hamilton walked into this Lancaster Texas bank and
walked out with over $6,000, after forcing L.L. Henry and several
customers to lie on the cold tile floor.


photo courtesy of Jonathan Davis




Related article on the Robbery



Grand Prairie Bank Robbery (TEXAS)



Bonnie & Clyde Bank Postcard





Ponder State Bank TEXAS



The bank is now home to the Ponder Boot Company. Scenes from the Warner Bros.
movie were filmed here. The movie showed Bonnie and Clyde as attempting to rob
this bank. It was actually Raymond Hamilton who had attempted to rob this bank,
and found that it had failed a week earlier. Hamilton was mad at the time,
but later, in telling the story to Clyde, they both had a big laugh over it.

Ponder Boot Company

2358 N. Main St., Ft. Worth, TX 76106




FIRST NATIONAL BANK - (STUART, IOWA)

Robbed by Barrow & Co. on April 16, 1934






FARMERS AND MINERS BANK OF ORONOGO (MISSOURI)

The picture is of the bank building at Oronogo. At the time, the Post Office
occupied the rear 2/3 of the building. The smaller of the two white doors -
just over the trunk of the car - was the entrance to the front part of the
building where the bank was located. The view is looking about southeast.
The getaway was to the west or to the right as you look at the picture.


courtesy of James R. Knight 




At 11:30am on November 30, 1932, Clyde, Hollis Hale, and Frank Hardy drove up
to the Farmers and Miners Bank of Oronogo, Missouri. One of the men stayed in the
car while Clyde and the other man walked in the bank. There were only two people
inside; R.A. (Doc) Norton, the cashier, and A.A. Farrar, a customer.

The two bandits entered the bank, produced a revolver and a sawed off shotgun,
and demanded the money. Mr. Norton immediately dropped down behind the teller
counter - which had been steel re-enforced for just such an occasion - produced
a pistol and opened fire. The bandit with the shotgun returned fire, but did
no damage to Mr. Norton. After 3 shots, Norton's pistol jammed and at the urging
of Mr. Farrar - "You'll get us both killed if you shoot anymore" - Norton gave up.

After the shooting ended, one of the bandits broke the glass in the teller window,
reached through and opened the door, and cleaned out the cash drawer. The third
man outside had been honking the horn ever since the shooting started, and as the
other two ran out, they found that several townspeople had gathered at Berly Wetsel's
garage about a block west of the bank. As the outlaw's car drove by, several shots
were exchanged. The car, which had been stolen earlier that day in Carthage,
Missouri was found with a bullet hole, broken glass and blood in it. From the
getaway car, Clyde and the others put several holes in a Phillips Petroleum truck.
In an amazing display of marksmanship on both sides, no one from either group was
hit. The blood in the car came from a cut received by the bandit who broke the
glass out of the teller window. A mile and a half west of town, Bonnie waited with
the real getaway car, a Ford V-8 Sedan. The bank only said that the loss was
"less than $300." According to Clyde, it was closer to $100, with Hale and Hardy
leaving with most of it.


"ORONOGO"

WHAT'S IN THE NAME? 

In 1856, Oronogo Missouri was originally called Minersville.
The town's name was changed to Oronogo in 1872. Local legend
has it, that in the early days, miners and traders bartered
for provisions and when they asked for credit, they were told
cash or ore and the saying "ore or no go" became the saying.
Oronogo had become the town's new name.