When you walk into the lobby of the Ameris Bank branch in Abbeville, Alabama, you aren’t just walking into your neighborhood bank, you’re stepping into history that includes over a century of dramatic rebirths and vibrant local legends.
Welcome to the Ameris Bank Branch Spotlight series where we celebrate the unique heritage, architecture and communities behind our footprint. Our first top is in downtown Abbeville, Alabama, where a singular brick structure has stood as a pillar of community banking since 1906.
Phoenix Rising: The Fires of 1906 & 1908
On May 20, 1906, a devastating fire swept through downtown Abbeville, leveling every single wooden building along the first block of Kirkland Street. Refusing to let the heart of the town crumble, local businessman Emmett Christian (E.C.) Porter purchased the land to construct a permanent, three-store brick complex.
The premier corner anchor was explicitly partitioned and custom-built for The Bank of Henry.
However, the new bank had barely opened their doors when disaster struck again on March 30, 1908. A second fire broke out in the upper lofts of the neighboring storefronts and spread rapidly into the bank. The interior was completely gutted, but the heavy 1906 exterior brick walls held firm.
More importantly, the bank’s heavy iron and steel cash vault insulated the contents against the extreme heat. Not a single dollar or record was lost, and remarkably, no lives were lost in either fire.
To rebuild, the bank hired Charles Edward Blacklidge Jr., a prominent local builder and master carpenter. Blacklidge fortified the interior using dense structural heart-pine framed directly inside the masonry shell and coated the walls with thick, traditional lime plaster, which was a natural fire retardant of the era. Thanks to his swift, master-level craftsmanship, the bank reopened its doors within months, stronger and safer than before.
Historical Mystery: Keep an eye on the floorboards! According to local historical accounts, a heavy vintage bank safe still rests on the ground beneath the building’s original footprint, a relic left behind after early 20th-century renovations.
A Century of Continuity & Community Roots
While the neighboring storefronts in the original complex shifted uses over the decades — once housing dry goods merchants and trading companies — 204 Kirkland Street has exclusively operated as a bank for its entire 120-year existence. It served as the financial engine for Henry County’s agricultural economy through the mid-20th century, eventually joining the ABC Bancorp family as regional banking evolved. In 2005, when ABC Bancorp rebranded, 204 Kirkland Street proudly became an Ameris Bank branch.
Today, it remains a bustling, full-service anchor on the historic Kirkland Street corridor.
1906 — The First Great Fire levels Kirkland Street. E.C. Porter rebuilds in brick.
1907 — The Bank of Henry officially opens at 204 Kirkland Street.
1908 — A second fire guts the interior. Master builder Charles E. Blacklidge Jr. restores it.
2005 — ABC Bancorp transitions to Ameris Bank, continuing a 100+ year banking legacy.
Whispers, Footsteps and “Huggin’ Molly”
You cannot talk about Abbeville without talking about its legendary ghost stories — and the Abbeville branch has a few tales of its own!
Down the street is Huggin’ Molly’s, a retro restaurant named after the town’s (and possibly even Alabama’s) most famous phantom. According to local lore dating back to the early 1900s, “Huggin’ Molly” is a 7-foot-tall figure in a flowing black dress and wide-brimmed hat who roams downtown Abbeville after dark, squeezing late-night walkers in a giant bear hug and screaming in their ears.
While Molly stays out on the town streets, our branch team deals with a spirit of their own.
Branch teammates report that the second floor of the historic building is home to a friendly yet ghostly man. Though teammates describe his presence as entirely harmless and gentle, the knowledge that an invisible someone is watching over the bank means almost no one dares venture up to the second floor alone.
Serving Abbeville Today
Neither flame nor phantom can keep the team at the Abbeville branch from delivering exceptional customer service.
So, the next time you visit the branch, take a moment to look at the thick brickwork. You are standing in a piece of Alabama history — one that has survived against all odds to anchor a town and support and serve its community.
