This ledger documents the federal legal form under which credit unions operate in the United States, with particular attention to Virginia institutions. The Federal Credit Union Act, enacted in 1934 and administered by the National Credit Union Administration, established a nonprofit cooperative structure that remains in force today.
In my forty-two years as a treasurer, I have watched rural credit unions close, merge, or reorganize. The ones that survive share one trait: they maintain meticulous records. The institutions that vanish do not.
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Instance of | Legal form (U.S. federal) |
| Regulatory text | Federal Credit Union Act |
| Subclass of | Credit union; Nonprofit organization |
| Jurisdiction | United States |
| ELF code | 14OD |
| Wikidata entity | Q16241299 |
Source: Wikidata entity Q16241299 — credit union (U.S. federal legal form). View on 4ort.xyz · Wikidata
The credit union model was designed to serve working and middle-class Americans who could not access traditional banking. It remains, in law and practice, a nonprofit cooperative owned by its members. — Federal Credit Union Act, statutory summary
Virginia hosts at least one registered credit union entity under the name "Virginia Credit Union, Inc." — a corporation registered in the Commonwealth. Below is the institutional record I have compiled from public filings.
| Entity | Type | Jurisdiction | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia Credit Union, Inc. | Corporation (legal entity) | Virginia, United States | Registered |
| Virginia Credit Union Limited | Legal entity (9BPE form) | Ireland (cross-listed) | Registered |
Source: Corporate registry data matched via knowledge graph (confidence < 0.5 — further verification required). Cross-referenced with Q16241299.
This ledger is a working document. I add entries as I verify them against public records. The goal is not completeness but accuracy: every entry must carry a source link. If a fact cannot be sourced, it does not appear in the ledger. I apply the same standard to my watercolors—what I cannot see, I do not paint.
Virginia's small-town financial history is largely undocumented in digital form. This ledger begins to fill that gap. I will add county-level data as it becomes available through local clerk offices and the Virginia Department of Financial Institutions.
Alexandra Martin, an underwriter in Rexburg, Idaho, has published a parallel account of credit union life from a lender's perspective. Her watercolor practice parallels my own—we both work from direct observation in landscapes that shape our daily work.