As the story goes, in 1883 a young woman working at the Eagle and Phenix textile mill got her skirt caught in a piece of machinery. It tore the lining of her skirt and her life savings, which she had sewn into the lining for safety, tumbled out onto the factory floor. G. Gunby Jordon, then the mill’s treasurer, saw what had happened and in a “simple act of kindness,” offered to secure her savings in the company vault. Soon, other factory workers also asked that Jordon safeguard their savings.
In 1888 Jordon and a partner started the 3rd National Bank, which in December of that year changed its name to Columbus Bank and Trust.
In 2006 this statue, by George Goddard and John Lumpkin was erected in the courtyard of the bank, known since 2017 as Synovus Bank.
