The Story of WesBanco, Inc.

To be 130 years old is not only a matter of pride, it is cause to reflect on how deeply our roots are embedded in West Virginia and Ohio. More than that, part of what today is WesBanco goes back to earlier days in the history of our country—before these states existed.

It is somehow satisfying to know that we once were among the frontier pioneers. Those who came before us—the bank presidents and managers, the tellers, cashiers and clerks—they lived with the scratching sounds of goose quill pens, of horses' hooves on dusty streets, and the noise of roistering young men in town for the weekend. And sometimes they may have lived with apprehension that the safety of local law was not quite enough.

They persevered. They fought back against adverse economics, bad weather, bank robbers, and wars. They won. Not only did they build a strong bank, but they helped build our communities and our states.

Today our bank operates under the same basic charter that was issued on January 20, 1870 to “The German Bank” which officially began operations on April 3, 1870. Seventeen years later, on February 3, 1887, the Dollar Savings Bank was organized in Wheeling.

A strong sense of community responsibility permeated a basic management philosophy as these two banks merged to form Wheeling Dollar Savings & Trust Co. The leaders contributed much toward the development of this area in the late 19th century and throughout the 20th century.

Now we face the 21st Century with the same standards of community involvement, safety and soundness, hard work, perseverance, and sense of duty to our communities and our customers.

While growth, expansion and profitability are important facets of finance today, it is imperative to keep the communities vital, alive, and progressive. Businesses must prosper, cities must be rejuvenated, and farms must succeed.

Over the past 130 years, banking services have evolved into instruments of finance quite different than those of our forefathers. However, the checking, the savings, and the basic loan product are still available and would be recognizable on the surface by our ancestors. What they would not be able to comprehend is the operations, the automated clearing houses, and the speed by which these services are processed.

Products like cash management, sweep accounts, ATM machines, credit cards, debit cards, money market accounts, NOW accounts, overdraft protection and payroll processing are now offered to the customers of WesBanco. Our goal has been and continues to be the premier provider of exceptional service to our customers through skilled employees and innovative technology.