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First Federal of Greene County began its history on March 13, 1924, when 17 men met on the second floor of the L.T. Laidly store in Carmichaels and formed the Home Building and Loan Association of Greene County. With $33,000 in assets, the Association made its first conventional mortgage to Andrew McClellan of Carmichaels.
Fifteen years later, in April 1939, the Association purchased a frame building and lot from Phil and Flow Shaner at 59 S. Washington St. in the county seat of Waynesburg. A federal charter was obtained, and First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Greene County was formally named and established.
In 1942, First Federal of Greene County absorbed two other Waynesburg financial institutions – the Citizens Building and Loan Association and the Security Building and Loan Association. During World War II, the Association made its first Veteran’s home loan to Earl and Helen Rudolph of Mt. Morris.
A few years later, as it expanded and needed more space, First Federal of Greene County purchased its current home office location in November 1945. The historic building at 25 E. High St., Waynesburg, originally housed the local hardware, grocery and clothing stores. During the previous century, it was known as the Union Deposit and Trust Bank, a holding company for Mellon Bank and then the Union Trust Bank. After nearly six months of remodeling, the Association opened its new doors in April 1946 with more than 4,000 members and upwards of $4.5 million in resources.
Recognizing the growing need for deposit services and home loans in Southwestern Pennsylvania, First Federal of Greene County expanded east into Fayette County, opening a full-service branch office in March 1958 in the Lynch Building at 1 W. Main St., Uniontown. In the subsequent years, the Association purchased and razed the nearby Kaufman and Benson buildings and constructed brand-new office quarters that opened in January 1972.
As banking technology and consumer expectations evolved over the ensuing decades, First Federal of Greene County in the 1980s introduced its first Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and undertook construction of its first drive-thru facilities. A four-lane drive-thru opened in April 1983 at the intersection of Routes 19 and 21 in Waynesburg, and a four-lane drive-thru with a full-service lobby opened in June 1987 near the intersection of Route 21 and the Route 119 bypass in Uniontown.
The 1980s also saw the opening of two additional offices, including the Association’s first subsidiary and move into neighboring West Virginia. In February 1985, First Federal of Greene County returned to its roots in Carmichaels, purchasing a full-service branch office with one drive-thru lane from First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Carnegie. The office is located at 101 W. George St., off the town square in Carmichaels Borough.
Given its proximity to the booming North Central West Virginia housing market, First Federal of Greene County formed a wholly owned subsidiary, First Greene Service Corporation, and opened a home loan origination office at 1211 Pineview Drive in Morgantown, W.Va., in January 1988.
The next decade brought further growth to the Association’s financial and physical assets. In June 1990, First Federal of Greene County purchased the deposit base of Ellwood Federal of Waynesburg, which closed the previous month, adding more than $2 million in assets and closing the year with $301 million in assets. Two years later, the second floor of the main office in Waynesburg was expanded, with additional renovations and additions coming later in the 1990s. In Uniontown, the Association in 2000 purchased the Hagen Building, which adjoined the Downtown Uniontown office. The building was extensively remodeled to provide three additional floors of office space and opened in 2004.
After expanding to the east and the south, First Federal of Greene County moved north into Washington County in the new century, constructing full-service branches with three drive-thru lanes and one ATM each at 460 Washington Road in Washington (opened August 2001) and at 2980 S Bridge Road in Taylorstown (opened March 2007). The Association also constructed a brand-new drive-thru in Waynesburg, doubling the original’s four lanes to eight. The replacement drive-thru opened in September 2008. The Carmichaels office was then extensively remodeled and finished in December 2010.
Faced with a shift to online banking and a greater demand for 24/7 consumer convenience, First Federal of Greene County introduced several new digital products in the 2000s, including free online banking and bill pay in 2005; eStatements in 2010; an online mortgage application tool in 2011; and a mobile app in 2014.
In May 2013, the Association added one more office to its slate with the opening of a full-service branch with three drive-thru lanes and an ATM in Mt. Morris, south of Waynesburg and close to the West Virginia border. The office is located at 101 Locust Ave. Ext. and brought the total number of First Federal of Greene County offices to nine.
Another move occurred in 2013 when First Greene Service Corporation (now known as First Greene Mortgage Corporation) moved from Pineview Drive to the Suncrest Towne Centre shopping plaza in Morgantown. A grand re-opening was held in September 2013 at the new office at 354 Suncrest Towne Centre Drive.
Needing more space for its mortgage operations, First Federal of Greene County broke ground in April 2016 on an addition to its Waynesburg main office. The site was once home to the Allison Building, widely known as the birthplace of Waynesburg’s holiday, Rain Day, observed every July 29. From the roof to the brick, the new construction closely resembles and pays homage to the original building. The new 6,500-square-foot mortgage operations center officially opened to the public in May 2017. A grand opening celebration – including a ribbon cutting and the dedication of a special plaque honoring the history of Rain Day – was held in July 2017.
In March 2023, First Greene Mortgage opened a second office in Bridgeport, W.Va. Located in the Market Place shopping plaza, the office serves customers in Harrison County and North Central West Virginia.
Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2024, First Federal of Greene County is proud of its storied history and reputation in the region for offering traditional customer service with a variety of modern products, all while remaining committed to being “The People You Know, The People You Can Trust.”
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