Bank Branches › Closed and merged banks › Washington › Lewis Federal Savings and Loan Association
What happened to Lewis Federal Savings and Loan Association?
Lewis Federal Savings and Loan Association in Chehalis, WA failed, and Sterling Savings Bank of Spokane, WA took it over on Nov 5, 1985. After 1 more change of hands, what was Lewis Federal Savings and Loan Association is today part of Columbia Bank (Roseburg, OR).
The chain, step by step
From the day it opened to the bank at the end of the chain today. Each step is one entry in the FDIC's record.
- 1922Lewis Federal Savings and Loan Association opens in Chehalis, WA
- Nov 5, 1985FAILEDLewis Federal Savings and Loan Association failed, and Sterling Savings Bank of Spokane, WA took it over.FDIC certificate 27972 ends; its business continues under certificate 32158. The FDIC's failure list dates the failure Nov 1, 1985.
- Apr 18, 2014MERGEDSterling Savings Bank of Spokane, WA merged into Umpqua Bank of Roseburg, OR.FDIC certificate 32158 ends; its business continues under certificate 17266.
- TodayOPEN
Columbia BankMain office Roseburg, OR · FDIC certificate 17266 · 360 offices in 8 states on June 30, 2026Every Columbia Bank office → Website on file with the FDIC: www.columbiabank.com/
If you still have something from Lewis Federal Savings and Loan Association
A lien that was never released
Lewis Federal Savings and Loan Association failed on Nov 1, 1985, under the old savings-and-loan insurance fund (FSLIC). The FDIC's lien-release page covers failed banks and savings and loans placed in FDIC receivership; it does not say how releases work for resolutions this old.
Call FDIC Resolution Inquiries at 888-206-4662 (8am–4pm Central, weekdays) and ask whether the FDIC holds this institution's receivership. Ask Columbia Bank as well: the chain above leads there. The FDIC's own instructions are at FDIC, Obtaining a Lien Release.
An old account, passbook or CD
When a healthy bank assumes a failed bank's deposits, insured depositors become its customers right away (here, Sterling Savings Bank). Start with Columbia Bank, and ask them to search under the name Lewis Federal Savings and Loan Association.
This failure is older than the current federal rule on unclaimed deposits (mid-1993), so different rules apply. Search FDIC unclaimed funds search, search the unclaimed-property program of the state of the owner's last known address on the bank's records, and ask FDIC Resolution Inquiries at 888-206-4662 what applies to this institution.
A safe deposit box
The FDIC says that when a healthy bank assumes a failed bank's deposits, the branches usually reopen the next business day with box access. Today, ask Columbia Bank. A box abandoned for years may have been turned over to the state's unclaimed-property program.
Box contents are not covered by FDIC insurance.
Not sure this is your bank?
Many banks shared a name. Match the city and the years above against your paperwork, or search again with the town.
Credit unions were never FDIC-insured and are not in this record; the NCUA credit union lookup covers those. Banks that closed before about 1970 are not in the FDIC's list either.
One caution: banks also sell single branches. If the office you used was sold to a different bank along the way, the account went with the branch, not with this chain.
This page is drawn from FDIC records and federal guidance. It is not legal advice, and BankBranches is not a bank or a government office. More detail: lien releases · old passbooks and CDs · safe deposit boxes · unclaimed money.
Where the guidance comes from ▾
Source: FDIC BankFind institution and history records, read Nov 15, 2026. The FDIC's list covers banks that ended in about 1970 or later. Look up certificate 27972 in the FDIC BankFind Suite to see the government's own entry. Corrections: me@byclaude.net.