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Bank of Efland

The Bank of Efland was the town's own bank, chartered in September 1920 with $25,000 in authorized capital and John L. Efland as president. It was robbed in 1925 and survived a failed holdup in November 1930, then failed later that month, found $15,000 to $40,000 short, and went into receivership.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

In the chronology

  1. The Bank of Efland receives its state charter The Secretary of State chartered the Bank of Efland with $25,000 in authorized capital, $10,000 of it paid in by three Efland men. The charter gave Efland its own bank. DigitalNC: The Mooresville Enterprise, September 16, 1920, p. 6 · Also: DigitalNC newspaper, September 17, 1920, p. 8
  2. Three armed men rob the Bank of Efland Three men held up the Bank of Efland in mid-morning, locked cashier Roberts Riley in the vault and drove off with a few thousand dollars. Two men were tried for the robbery at Hillsborough in March 1926. DigitalNC: The Mooresville Enterprise, December 17, 1925, p. 1 · Also: The Alamance Gleaner, December 17, 1925, p. 3; The Roxboro Courier, March 17, 1926, p. 1
  3. The Bank of Efland fails and goes into receivership Efland's small bank failed in November 1930. Days after a robbery in which a merchant shot the robber dead, the cashier, Roberts Riley, handed the state bank examiner the keys; the bank was found $15,000 to $40,000 short and put in receivers' hands, and Riley was jailed at Hillsboro. DigitalNC: Alamance Gleaner, November 13, 1930, p. 3 (Efland Bank In Hands of Receivers) · Also: Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952
  4. An Efland merchant kills a robber outside the Bank of Efland A holdup at the Bank of Efland failed when Mrs. George Shambley warned merchant Carl Forrest, a bank officer, who shot robber Bruce Carpenter of Durham as he came out. His partner escaped by car, and a coroner's jury found Forrest acted in self-defense. DigitalNC: The Elkin Tribune, November 6, 1930, p. 1 · Also: DigitalNC newspaper, November 1, 1930, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, November 4, 1930, p. 1

Open these in the chronology →

Indexed works

The index has no works about Bank of Efland itself yet. The surveys and maps below cover where it stands. Search the index for Bank of Efland, or tell us about a book or record we have missed.

Surveys and maps of the area

Not about Bank of Efland alone: the architectural surveys that cover its town or the county, and maps drawn while it stood. Several of the surveys can be read free online at NC Digital Collections.

History and Architecture of Orange County, North Carolina

Mattson, Richard L. · 1996 · Unpublished manuscript

Richard L. Mattson's manuscript survey of the history and architecture of Orange County, completed in September 1996. Its 78 pages cover the county's historic buildings and structures and end with a bibliography.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Orange County multiple property documentation form: "Historic resources of Orange County."

1993

National Register multiple property documentation form on the historic resources of Orange County, completed in 1993. Kelly Lally and M. Ruth Little led the first phase of the survey, and Jody Carter and Todd Peck the second. It runs 123 pages with a bibliography.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

[Architectural field surveys for Orange County : collected for the Historic and architectural resources of the Tar-Neuse River basin report]

1974 · Survey and Planning Branch, Historic Preservation Section, Division of Archives and History

Historic building survey forms for Orange County gathered in 1974 by the state's Historic Preservation Section for a report on the Tar-Neuse River basin. About 400 pages of forms covering buildings in Chapel Hill, Hillsborough and the countryside; a form can carry a description, historical notes, location, a photograph and a floor plan.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

A map of Orange County, N.C.

Noble, M. C. S. (Marcus Cicero Stephens), 1855-1942 · 1915

Marcus Cicero Stephens Noble drew this 1915 map to show how Orange County's original territory was divided, tracing the formation of Caswell, Person, Alamance, Durham, Chatham, Randolph, Guilford and Rockingham counties out of it. Topics include county boundaries and the history of political divisions in the Piedmont. Surviving as a photocopy on a sheet 31 by 23 centimeters.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC

Soil map, North Carolina, Orange County sheet

United States · 1918 · United States Government Printing Office

Color soil map of Orange County issued in 1918 by the U.S. Government Printing Office at one inch to the mile, 68 by 46 cm. Besides soil types it marks roads and railroads, the Southern Railway among them, churches, schools, mills, stores, cotton gins, iron mines, cemeteries and the county home, and it names the townships of Bingham, Cedar Grove, Chapel Hill, Cheeks, Eno, Hillsborough and Little River.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

Found a book OCPL doesn’t own? You can often borrow it through interlibrary loan at OCPL.

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    Where to look on the shelf

    These books don’t necessarily mention Bank of Efland, but they cover where it stands, its kind of building and the land, family and burial records behind it, and they are where a search for a place like this usually goes next. All are at OCPL, most in the Wall Collection.

    Histories of the town and county

    • Foundational · NC 975.656 ORA Orange County--1752-1952 1953

      Hugh Talmage Lefler and Paul W. Wager's history of Orange County across its first two centuries, 1752 to 1952, prepared for the county's bicentennial. It covers government and politics, biography and the county's families, and doubles as a genealogical reference. Published in Chapel Hill by the Orange Printshop in 1953, 389 pages with illustrations and an index; this copy is a later reprint.

    Buildings and surveys

    • Foundational · NC 720.975 BIS A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Piedmont North Carolina Bishir, Catherine W. · 2003

      Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern's field guide to the historic buildings of the North Carolina Piedmont, arranged county by county from Wake and Franklin in the east to Mecklenburg and Gaston in the west. The Orange County section takes in Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro along with the rural county, with entries on individual buildings and maps for finding them. Published 2003, 596 pages with illustrations and maps.

    • Foundational · NC 917.56 ORANGE An Inventory Of Sites Of Cultural, Historic, Recreational, Biological, And Geological Significance In The Unincorporated Portions Of Orange County Orange County (N.C.) · 1986

      County planning department survey of significant sites in the unincorporated parts of Orange County, published in 1988, 95 pages with maps. The survey covers cemeteries, church buildings and archaeological sites on the cultural side, and plants, animals, endangered species, wildlife refuges, geology and recreation areas on the natural side. Useful for local historians, genealogists tracing burial grounds and land planners alike.

    • Foundational · NC 363.69 HIS Historic Preservation Element: Orange County Comprehensive Plan ; Orange County, North Carolina Orange County (N.C.) · 1996

      The historic preservation element of Orange County's comprehensive plan, prepared for the county Historic Preservation Commission and Planning Department by the Jaeger Company of Gainesville, Georgia, and adopted on 1 April 1996. Partly financed by National Park Service funds through the state Division of Archives and History, it sets county policy on historic buildings and sites and their conservation. 59 pages plus 50 unnumbered, with illustrations and maps, some folded and in color.

    Research sources

    Sources cited in this site’s history, National Register documents, and places to get research help. Research guide: Research a business or a changing street.

    Historic sites, markers, and maps

    Records of the time 5

    Collections and databases

    Local help

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    Two mice reading back to back against a leaf, with the hand-lettered words Friends of the Orange County Public Library
    Illustration by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell, gifted to the Friends 2026