LaGrange, GA – The recent closure of Community Bank and Trust – West Georgia in LaGrange has renewed interest in one of Northeast Georgia’s oldest banking names — a name whose roots stretch back more than 125 years to downtown Cornelia.
On Friday, May 1, 2026, the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance shut down Community Bank and Trust – West Georgia, with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation named as receiver.
The FDIC later announced that substantially all insured deposits had been transferred to Anchor Bank of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
“No advance notice is given to the public when a financial institution is closed,” the FDIC stated following the closure.
For many customers in West Georgia, the shutdown appeared to come suddenly.
Less than a year earlier, Community Bank & Trust had been recognized by readers of the LaGrange Daily News as “Best Bank” and “Best Overall Business in Troup County” for 2025. Bill Stump, the bank’s director of community banking, was also named “Best Banker.”
At the time, the bank described the awards as a reflection of its “customer-first mindset” and commitment to the communities it served.
But while the LaGrange institution carried the Community Bank & Trust name, the history behind that name begins in Habersham County.
The institution originally opened Aug. 4, 1900, as Cornelia Bank — the first bank chartered and opened in Habersham County.
A 1937 newspaper article marking the bank’s 37th anniversary described Cornelia Bank as “one of the oldest business concerns in Cornelia.”
In February 1986, the bank adopted the name Community Bank & Trust as the institution expanded beyond its original Cornelia footprint.
The Cornelia-based Community Bank & Trust later became one of many Georgia banks impacted by the financial crisis of the late 2000s.
On Jan. 29, 2010, regulators closed the Cornelia-headquartered institution, and the FDIC entered into an agreement with SCBT, N.A. of Orangeburg, South Carolina, to assume the bank’s deposits.
At the time, William R. Stump Jr., president and CEO of Community Bankshares Inc., blamed the collapse on the severe economic conditions facing the country during the Great Recession.
“We gave our best efforts, but in the face of the unyielding and unprecedented economic crisis, we were unable to save the bank,” Stump said in a statement following the closure.
Community Bank & Trust branding and operations later re-emerged in West Georgia under a separate structure tied to the LaGrange market.
While the LaGrange institution carried the same historic name and branding associated with the original Cornelia bank, the recent FDIC closure involved Community Bank and Trust – West Georgia, a separate entity from the Cornelia-based institution that failed in 2010.
As of Tuesday, the former bank’s website displayed FDIC receivership information directing customers to Anchor Bank and providing guidance regarding accounts and deposits.
For residents in Habersham County, however, the story serves as a reminder of the enduring legacy of a banking name that has been connected to Cornelia for generations — a story that began in 1900 with the opening of Cornelia Bank and continued through decades of growth, change and financial upheaval.
