Founded by family that was first in San Antonio to engage solely in banking. Outgrowth of business begun by Frederick Groos (1827-1912), a graduate engineer and architect who came to Texas from Germany in 1848. During building of Fort Duncan in 1849, Groos had U.S. Government contract for freighting into Eagle Pass. His drivers--with 140 high-wheel carts and 280 oxen--braved constant danger from Indians, but the business was successful. Groos had branch houses in New Braunfels, San Antonio, and Matamoros, Mexico. His brothers, Carl (1830-1893) and Gustav (1832-1895), joined him in 1854, in merchantile partnership, F. Groos and Co. Primitive banking was a necessary side line of any frontier store; money was kept in packing boxes, or, for safety on the road, hidden in cotton bales or plugged holes in card axles. Bank clients in northern Mexico continued with Groos for generations. Firm moved from Eagle Pass to San Antonio in 1866. In 1879 it expanded by building on Commerce Street (across street from this site) the first structure in San Antonio expressly for a bank. Obtained a national charter in 1912. Descendants of the Groos brothers are active in the city today, and are represented in the management and ownership of the bank. (1968)