March 11, 2010
History
What today is Legends Bank was established in 1913 in the community of Rich Fountain, Missouri, as the Rich Fountain Bank. It was one of the few banks in Osage County to survive the Great Depression. In fact, its move to Linn in 1936 was the result of the failure of all of the banks which had been operating in Linn, and the Missouri bank commissioner's subsequent request to the Board of the Rich Fountain Bank to move the bank so that the county seat of Osage County would have a financial institution. Operations being a little simpler then than they are now, it is said that the move was accomplished by loading everything that was needed in the trunk of a car, with the bank reopening the next business day in its new town and under a new name.
As Legends Bank celebrates its 96th anniversary, it continues to look for better ways to serve its expanding list of customers. It has seen substantial physical growth in the last 30 years, opening new facilities in Westphalia in 1973 and in Belle in 1992, and adding a drive through branch in East Linn in 1983. Locations in Loose Creek and Taos were added by virtue of the bank's merger in 1997 with the former Heritage Bank. Expansion continued into Owensville, Bland and Union with the 2003 merger with the former Charter 1 Bank, bringing to nine the total number of facilities operated by the bank. Twenty-four hour banking is offered by a growing number of ATMs operated by the bank, with machines now at the bank's Westphalia, East Linn, Belle, Loose Creek, Taos, Owensville and Union branches, with additional ATMs located in the Linn Thriftway Supermarket, Linn State Technical College Technology Center, and the Bland Corner Market. The bank also offers a very popular automated telephone banking service, TeleBank, and of course offers a fully interactive internet banking service.
Stability in management has been a keystone of the bank's success. Since its inception, the bank's president has been a member of one of the bank's two primary founding families, the Ficks and the Klebbas. John A. Klebba, the current President & Board Chairman, has been with the Bank since 1991, and Clarence Fick, who joined the bank in 1968, currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors.
