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                                                              Exhibit 99 (a)

                           BANK OF GRANITE CORPORATION
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For Immediate Release:                                       December 14, 1998

                      BANK OF GRANITE CORPORATION ANNOUNCES
                           PLAN TO REPURCHASE SHARES

     Bank of Granite Corporation announced today that its Board of Directors
has approved a plan to purchase up to $5 million of its common stock on the
open market or in privately negotiated transactions as conditions warrant. 
The repurchase plan is effective until December 2001.  As of November 30,
1998, the Company had 11,464,913 shares outstanding.

     John A. Forlines, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bank of
Granite Corporation, said the Company would determine the extent and timing of
its repurchase activities under the program according to the Company's best
interest.  Forlines added, "this decision by the Board will allow us to have
additional choices in  allocating our capital and will enable us to continue
our goal of building value for our shareholders."

     Bank of Granite Corporation is the parent of Bank of Granite and GLL &
Associates, Inc.  Bank of Granite operates fourteen full-service banking
offices in Caldwell, Catawba, and Burke Counties.  GLL & Associates,
headquartered in Winston-Salem, originates mortgages in the Central and
Southern Piedmont and Catawba Valley Regions of North Carolina.  Bank of
Granite Corporation's stock is traded on the National Market System and is
quoted electronically under the NASDAQ symbol GRAN.

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For further information, contact Kirby A. Tyndall,
  Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
  at VOICE (828) 496-2026, FAX (828) 496-2116 or
  Internet:  ktyndall@bankofgranite.com


















Bank of Granite Corporation, Form 8-K, December 14, 1998, page 5 of 5