Logan's only bank closes

LOGAN - At noon Friday, one teller locked the front door while another taped a piece of paper on its glass, stating the New Mexico Bank & Trust branch was closed.

With that, the village of Logan was without a bank for the first time in more than a century.

New Mexico Bank & Trust announced in March it would close its Logan branch in June. It rescheduled the closing to mid-December after local entities passed resolutions, asking the banking chain more time to attract another banking tenant.

However, no such tenant could be found. The building at 301 S. U.S. 54 will remain empty for now. New Mexico Bank and Trust put the property up for sale for $775,000, with locally based Trousdale Real Estate as the broker.

About a month before its closing, the Logan branch reduced its hours operation to two days a week.

Thirty minutes before the bank branch was shuttered, three tellers worked the front counters and drive-through lanes.

An apparent supervisor wearing a New Mexico Bank & Trust logo shirt declined to identify himself but said the branch's final day was "a little bit" busy.

Boxes, artwork and desktop monitors were placed in corners of the lobby and offices.

The branch's last walk-up customer, Pat Gutierrez of Logan, said he would continue to do business with New Mexico Bank & Trust at its next-closest location in Tucumcari.

Gutierrez said he began as a customer of Logan's original bank, the McFarland Brothers Bank established in 1904 in a sandstone building at Second and Martinez streets, in the 1950s.

That bank was bought out by FNB New Mexico, and it moved that branch's operations to U.S. 54 in 2012.

New Mexico Bank & Trust acquired the Logan branch and other banks in the region during its acquisition of FNB New Mexico in February 2021. New Mexico Bank & Trust is a subsidiary of Iowa-based HTLF, formerly known as Heartland Financial USA Inc., that operates in 12 states.

Gutierrez was asked how he felt about the branch's closing.

"I don't like it," he said. "But it's what it is, I guess."

He also said Logan businesses are unhappy about the branch's closing, as well.

"People don't like it, but they don't have a choice," he shrugged. "It could be worse, I guess."

In another sign of the finality, employees from Skyrite Sign Co. of Amarillo were taking down the New Mexico Bank & Trust logo and letters above the bank's main entrance 30 minutes before it closed.

Dominic Salas, a Skyrite employee, said he grew up in Clayton.

"I know the loss of these is a big deal in these little towns," he said.