Our History
Chesapeake Bank’s roots stretch deep into the sandy soil of Virginia’s Northern Neck and reach back to the dawn of the twentieth century. Originally chartered as Lancaster National Bank on April 14, 1900, we’ve been focused on our community from the very beginning. The bank’s first clients were watermen, farmers and small business owners.
Our only branch was in Irvington, a secluded steamboat port off the Rappahannock River. Those were the days before bridges–much less highways–linked the Northern Neck to urban centers. The bank played an essential role in the local economy, and we knew it. So we worked in a tent when the Great Irvington Fire of 1917 destroyed our offices. In 1933, the region was hit not only by the Depression, but also by the worst storm in years. It wiped out the remaining steamboat wharves and many businesses. But we survived and helped our community rebuild.
We continued to demonstrate that same staying power through the years. And we grew along with the area as it emerged as a popular vacation and retirement location. We merged with Chesapeake Banking Co. of Lively in 1968 to become Chesapeake National Bank. Always responding to local needs, we launched the nation’s first floating boat bank that same year and added the trust department two years later.
In 1994, we changed our name to Chesapeake Bank. Today we operate eleven offices in the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula: Kilmarnock, Lively and Irvington on the Northern Neck; Mathews, Hayes and Gloucester on the Middle Peninsula; and four branches in Williamsburg. And we’ve remained on the forefront of community banking while keeping our local flavor and commitment to personal service.
Innovative programs and banking initiatives are the engines that have fueled our growth from the $25,000 we started with in 1900 to over $483 million in assets by the end of 2007. We tell our customers that “We Make It Easy,” and we deliver on that promise by continually adding new products and services that help them simplify their financial life.
