Crocker National Bank

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Crocker National Bank was a United States bank acquired by Wells Fargo in 1986.

[edit] History

The bank traces its history to the Woolworth National Bank in San Francisco. Charles Crocker, one of The Big Four of the Central Pacific Railroad and who constructed America's First Transcontinental Railroad, acquired controlling interest in Woolworth for his son William Crocker. The bank was renamed Crocker Woolworth National Bank, later Crocker First National Bank and finally Crocker National Bank.

On April 21, 1975, Emily Harris, along with other members of the Symbionese Liberation Army robbed the Carmichael, California branch of the Crocker Bank of $15,000. Harris fatally shot civilian Myrna Opsahl for responding too slowly to Harris' demand for everybody in the building to lie down on the ground.

Crocker National Bank was headquartered at San Francisco, California.

Crocker National Bank was purchased in 1986 by Wells Fargo Bank. Crocker's president and over eighty vice presidents left the bank after the merger.[citation needed]

[edit] Trivia

In the 1970's Crocker ran a Television commercial featuring The Carpenters' song We've Only Just Begun. The ad showed a young married couple moving into their first house, financed by a mortgage from Crocker.

Scott Adams worked at Crocker in his first years in the business world. It is said to have inspired the evil Bank of Ethel in Adams' Dilbert comic strip.