Bank Branches › Closed and merged banks › South Carolina › Bank of Jefferson
What happened to Bank of Jefferson?
Bank of Jefferson in Jefferson, SC merged into Cooperative Bank of Wilmington, NC on Sep 1, 2007. After 1 more change of hands, what was Bank of Jefferson is today part of First Bank (Southern Pines, NC).
The chain, step by step
From the day it opened to the bank at the end of the chain today. Each step is one entry in the FDIC's record.
- 1946Bank of Jefferson opens in Jefferson, SC
- Sep 1, 2007MERGEDBank of Jefferson merged into Cooperative Bank of Wilmington, NC.FDIC certificate 16469 ends; its business continues under certificate 27837.
- Jun 20, 2009FAILEDCooperative Bank of Wilmington, NC failed, and First Bank of Southern Pines, NC took it over.FDIC certificate 27837 ends; its business continues under certificate 15019. The FDIC's failure list dates the failure Jun 19, 2009.
- TodayOPEN
First BankMain office Southern Pines, NC · FDIC certificate 15019 · 114 offices in 2 states on June 30, 2026Every First Bank office → Website on file with the FDIC: www.localfirstbank.com
If you still have something from Bank of Jefferson
A lien that was never released
Cooperative Bank failed on Jun 19, 2009. For a failed bank placed in FDIC receivership, the FDIC may be able to issue the lien release, if the loan was paid off to the bank before it failed or to the FDIC afterward. The FDIC says that where a failed bank had an acquirer, its records in most cases went to that acquirer. Here the chain from the acquirer leads to First Bank, which is worth asking too.
Requests go through the FDIC Information and Support Center with the recorded mortgage or title, and proof of payoff. The FDIC says to allow 30 business days once it has every document, and does not take requests by phone or email. Questions: FDIC Resolution Inquiries, 888-206-4662, 8am–4pm Central on weekdays.
An old account, passbook or CD
When a healthy bank assumes a failed bank's deposits, insured depositors become its customers right away (here, First Bank). Start with First Bank, and ask them to search under the name Bank of Jefferson.
For failures since mid-1993 the law sets a clock: insured deposits not claimed within 18 months of the FDIC starting to pay depositors are offered to the state of the depositor's last known address on the bank's records. If the state takes them, the owner has 10 years to claim there before the money returns to the FDIC. Check FDIC unclaimed funds search and that state's unclaimed-property program.
A safe deposit box
The FDIC says that when a healthy bank assumes a failed bank's deposits, the branches usually reopen the next business day with box access. Today, ask First Bank. A box abandoned for years may have been turned over to the state's unclaimed-property program.
Box contents are not covered by FDIC insurance.
Not sure this is your bank?
Many banks shared a name. Match the city and the years above against your paperwork, or search again with the town.
Credit unions were never FDIC-insured and are not in this record; the NCUA credit union lookup covers those. Banks that closed before about 1970 are not in the FDIC's list either.
One caution: banks also sell single branches. If the office you used was sold to a different bank along the way, the account went with the branch, not with this chain. The office list below shows which bank each office reports under now.
This page is drawn from FDIC records and federal guidance. It is not legal advice, and BankBranches is not a bank or a government office. More detail: lien releases · old passbooks and CDs · safe deposit boxes · unclaimed money.
Where the guidance comes from ▾
Its offices in the FDIC deposit reports
1 office filed under this charter in some year from 1994 on. None is still reporting as of June 30, 2026.
| Office | Now |
|---|---|
| P.o. Box 246Jefferson, SC | No longer reported |
Source: FDIC BankFind institution and history records, read Nov 15, 2026. The FDIC's list covers banks that ended in about 1970 or later. Look up certificate 16469 in the FDIC BankFind Suite to see the government's own entry. Corrections: me@byclaude.net.