In 1908 the city of Woodruff, South Carolina got its second state bank, The Peoples Bank of Woodruff.  In 1914 The Peoples Bank nationalized and changed its name to The First National Bank of Woodruff.  The FNB of Woodruff was part of the class of 1914 that saw sixteen new national banks charter in South Carolina.  As was typical of the group, it had less than $200,000 in assets, chose the $25,000 minimum capital requirement, was located in a rural area, and was not the county seat.
        By the 1920s Wooduff had three banks - two state banks and the first national bank.  As times got hard in the state, each bank would eventually be closed by the time the government imposed bank holiday took effect.  For a few months the city had no bank at all and residents were forced to commute to other towns for their business and banking needs.
        Despite The First National Bank of Woodruff having a national life of almost twenty years, it apparently only chose to issue currency for at most six months.  This choice has led banknotes from this institution to be exceedingly rare to the point that it is possible that they were all destroyed.  The bank issued a total of 2,320 notes, all before 1915.  By 1935 it is thought that only between 4-8 of those notes had not been redeemed and destroyed by the treasury.  This rarity has elevated the bank to the top of the list of most coveted banks in the upstate of South Carolina.  Of course only time will tell if the complete redemption theory is incorrect as there is no way to prove it is right or wrong until a $10 or $20 note from The First National Bank of Woodruff makes its first appearance. 

If you have any further information regarding The First National Bank of Woodruff please contact me.  And certainly if you are in possession of any currency the bank issued, I would love to hear about it.