The bank was established in 1973, following the purchase of the First State Bank of Hitchcock by Charles T. "Chuck" Doyle and a group of investors. The group aimed to establish a network of
community banks in all ten incorporated cities in
Galveston County by the end of the Twentieth Century. Over the following decades, the organization expanded through a series of acquisitions and new branch opening, including
Galveston (1975),
Santa Fe (1977),
Texas City (1982), and
Crystal beach (1985). On August 3, 1995, all affiliated banks were consolidated under a single brand name – Texas First Bank. In 2000, the bank entered the insurance sector by acquiring Rust, Ewing, Watt, and Haney Insurance. It added to its
mortgage services in 2004 with the acquisition of Paramount Mortgage in
League City and later renamed Texas First Mortgage. In January 2005, it opened a
Small Business Administration (SBA) lending division in
Pearland, Texas. Further growth occurred through
mergers and acquisitions, including the Gulf Coast Bank (2006), Sullivan Insurance Agency (2008), Houston Business Bank and Texas Coastal Bank (2012), and Hull State Bank (2014). In 2018, the bank acquired Assurance One Group, followed by all Preferred Bank locations in 2019. That same year, Texas Independent Bancshares received
Federal Reserve approval to merge with Preferred Bancshares, adding five branches in the
Greater Houston area, including
The Woodlands,
Spring, and
Conroe, Texas. In 2022, a new branch was opened in
Beaumont, Texas. In February 2024, the bank launched its first "Texas First" location in Conroe, combining banking, insurance, SBA lending, and mortgage services. Texas First Bank marked its 50th anniversary in 2023. == Leadership ==