Is the Bank of North Dakota the only public bank in U.S. history that has never failed?

The Bank of North Dakota has operated continuously since 1919 without failure, but it is not the only public banking institution in U.S. history to avoid failing. 

One example is the State Bank of Indiana (1834–1859), a state-chartered banking system that operated for 25 years and closed when its charter expired, not because it failed. 

The State Bank of Indiana remained solvent and wound down operations when its charter expired rather than collapsing financially. When the charter ended in 1859, the system was dissolved as planned and its branches reorganized into new banks. 

The Bank of the State of South Carolina operated for nearly six decades under state ownership before lawmakers ordered liquidation following the Civil War, and its remaining assets were transferred. 

While the Bank of North Dakota is widely recognized as the nation’s longest-operating state-owned bank and the only one still operating today, it is not historically unique in avoiding failure.