The old Merchants Bank in the Eberle building on the northeast corner of North Sixth Street and Garrison Avenue, circa 1887. The bank was founded in 1882 by William Joseph Echols. In 1907, it moved into new quarters at 623 Garrison, at the northeast corner of North Seventh Street and Garrison Avenue. It remained a core, Fort Smith financial institution until its purchase in the 1990s by a larger regional bank.