Citizens Trust Company first opened for business on March 18th, 1913 as the trust department for the former National Loan and Exchange Bank, its purpose was for the organizing of real estate and insurance services.
The founding Board of Directors were:
By April 1920, the Board of Directors had taken on a few new directors.*
The 1920's and 1930's were a difficult time for anyone in business, ten banks failed in Greenwood County, except for the Bank of Hodges. Major R. Boykin Curry had acquired ownership of Citizens Trust Company but soon realized his company was losing money. In 1925 and 1926, the State of South Carolina had to pay its school teachers in "script", so Major Curry approached Mr. James C. Self, Sr. (the local textile owner of Greenwood Mills) if he was interested in buying these notes. Mr. Self began to purchase all the notes he could at a 30% discount across the entire state.
Major Curry then approached Ellison McKissick, a former Greenwood resident, and begins buying SWC bonds for 50%^ on the dollar for the two savvy investors.
By 1937, R. Boykin Curry, Jr. graduated from Furman University and joined his father at Citizens Trust Company. A few short years later, R. B. Curry, Jr. would enlist in the United States Navy during World War II.
After the war, Greenwood continued to grow and Citizens Trust Company began to develop neighborhoods around the county. The first development for Citizens Trust Company was on Penn and Sloan Avenue. Followed by Woodfields subdivision, Forrest Hills, Idlewood, Spring Valley, Cherokee Hills, Wellington Green, and Milford Manor.
By the 1980's R. Boykin Curry, Jr. decided to sell Citizens Trust Company to Thomas Burns and Len Grimes. Burns was responsible for Real Estate development and property management, while Grimes was responsible for the insurance agency.
In November 1921, James C. Self, Sr. founded Central Trust Company to capture the insurance premiums from his other privately held companies. For the next 80 years, Central Trust Company and Citizens Trust Company would compete primarily as independent insurance agencies, sometimes collaborating together to develop and sell neighborhoods, Greenwood Market, *Cedar Lake, *Forrest Lake, *Creekside, Center Court, Cobblestone West, Cambridge Court, Colonial Heights, Terra Villa, Lodge Grounds, Kirksey Forrest, Ivy Hall, Hunter's Creek (section C The Gables) and (Section U Hunter's Creek Townhomes) and Gibbs Green Townhomes (Columbia, SC).
In June 2000, Central Trust Company purchased Citizens Trust Company. It was also during this time the Central Trust Company Board of Directors decided to brand the Real Estate division as Century 21 Citizens Trust Real Estate (for ten years) and combined the Insurance Agencies book of business.
In April, 2017, Central Trust created a move forward plan to focus on providing insurance, employee benefits and surety bonds. Over the next five years the organization re-branded to CTC Insurance, grew from six employees to over 30. We currently have 7 locations in 9 states and serve over 15,000 customers and businesses. We provide insurance, employee benefits and surety bonds to some of the largest and most well-known businesses in the Southeast and other regions. We also specialize in coastal and complex personal insurance needs.
The Board of Directors is comprised of members of the Self Family
Current Officers:
"CTC Insurance, more than a century of dependability and trust in the Southeast"
