April 28, 2009

The initial act passed by the first state legislature in 1836 established the Real Estate Bank of the State of Arkansas. Capital was raised for the bank by the issuing of $2 million worth of five-percent bonds. The bank, which was a hotbed of political corruption and financial mismanagement, was taken over by the state in 1855. The legacy of the failure much damaged Arkansas’s financial future. Shown here is an 1838 draft note from the state’s failed banking venture.