The bank was well-positioned to contribute to nearby communities in Arizona's copper mining country, such as Safford, Morenci and Clifton.

In 1932, Valley Bank built a headquarters for the expanding company in conjunction with the Maricopa County Medical Society, the Professional Building.

Meanwhile, Walter Bimson, the son of a blacksmith who had studied economics and was working at Harris Trust and Savings Bank in Chicago, traveled to the Southwest and was impressed with the region.

It built branches throughout the rapidly expanding Phoenix metropolitan area and the rest of the state.

[5] In 1972, it built the Valley Center in downtown Phoenix, which remains the tallest building in the state of Arizona; in 1981, it opened its 200th branch, in Solomonville, the town where the bank began.

The savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s initially caused major losses at Valley National, which lost $149 million in 1989.

[9] By 1988, Valley National halted their interstate expansion plans due to troubled foreign loans in its portfolio.

[11] Within a year, its cash flow was severe enough that Valley National was seriously considering selling its out-of-state bank holdings.

Within a few months, the real estate market recovered enough that Valley National decided to retain its out-of-state banks.

[26][27] The collection was sold off by Bank One upon its acquisition of Valley National, and the pieces are in the hands of museums, private collectors, and with JPMorgan Chase in Manhattan.