At the turn of the century, Liberty was growing with the area's oil industry boom. German-born banker George P. Zeiss of Waller, owner of the German American Bank of Waller, purchased land in Liberty to establish a private banking institution and in late spring through early summer 1903 acquired the property and supervised construction. He hired an architect identified as Mr. Loraine to design a two-story brick commercial building in beaux arts style with brick and cast stone, featuring a balustrade, dentil course, and columns capped with composite capitals flanking double arched doors, with plans to open in November 1903 as Liberty County Bank. Early records identify Liberty County Bank as the first bank in Liberty, followed by the First State Bank in 1906, and both prospered with development of the nearby oilfields at Batson and Dayton. By 1913 Zeiss sold Liberty County Bank to First State. After the sale, the building was leased as a post office from 1919 to 1929. Later it housed an abstract and title company, then a trust company. In 1962 Jaromir Charles Zbranek and Harlan Friend purchased the property for their law office. Zbranek later bought Friend's interest and practiced law there for 30 years while also serving as county Democratic Party Chairman and as a member of the Lamar University Board of Regents. In 1990 he was elected state district judge in Liberty County and served until retiring in 2002.