Financial District in Manhattan in New York County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

J.P. Morgan Building

Exploring Downtown

— 23 Wall Street, Trowbridge & Livingston, Architects, 1913 —

J.P. Morgan Building Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Bill Coughlin, November 4, 2009

1. J.P. Morgan Building Marker

Inscription.
At the corner of Wall and Broad streets, the financial crossroads of the world, sits the House of Morgan. J. Pierpont Morgan, Sr., the capitalist’s capitalist – known throughout the world of finance, sought out by presidents and potentates – helped bankroll the industrialization of America. His influence was such that, during the financial Panic of 1907, he orchestrated everything from the rescue of trust companies to the bailout of the New York Stock Exchange.

In 1913, the year Morgan died (to be succeeded by his son, J.P. Morgan, Jr.), the company built a new bank on the corner it has occupied since 1873 – one of Wall Street’s most valuable sites. With skyscrapers rising on all sides, and land values skyrocketing, the House of Morgan displayed its fabulous wealth by building its new headquarters no taller than the old – just four stories, though with foundations strong enough to support a forty-story tower is needed some day.

Luxurious but unmarked, like a prestigious private club, the Morgan building was nevertheless so well known that when, in 1920, a wagon exploded across the street killing 30 people, it was simply assumed – though never proven – that an anarchist bomb had been aimed at the bank. The pockmarks on the bank’s Wall Street façade have been left deliberately unrepaired,

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and can still be seen today.

Erected by The Alliance for Downtown New York, Inc.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Industry & Commerce. A significant historical year for this entry is 1907.

Location. 40° 42.427′ N, 74° 0.64′ W. Marker is in Manhattan, New York, in New York County. It is in the Financial District. Marker is at the intersection of Wall Street and Broad Street, on the right when traveling east on Wall Street. Marker is located on the southeast corner of Wall Street and Broad Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: New York NY 10005, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. J. P. Morgan (here, next to this marker); Ohio Company of Associates (a few steps from this marker); Wall Street Palisade (a few steps from this marker); 1 Wall Street / 14 Wall Street (a few steps from this marker); On this site in Federal Hall (a few steps from this marker); Let Freedom Ring (within shouting distance of this marker); The Wall Street Journal (within shouting distance of this marker); Federal Hall National Memorial (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Manhattan.

More about this marker. The upper right of the marker contains a Portrait of J.P. Morgan. Below this is a “Stock

Wall Street Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Bill Coughlin, November 4, 2009

2. Wall Street Marker

This photo of the marker looks souuth on Broad Street. The New York Stock Exchange can be seen across the street from the marker.

Certificate from the U.S. Street Corporation. In 1901, Morgan brokered the biggest deal of his life, the merger of more than a dozen independent street companies into the banking giant of the U.S. Street Corporation, which he capitalized at $1.4 billion dollars – roughly equal in 1901 to 7% of the United States’ gross national product. The world’s first billion-dollar corporation owned steel mills, blast furnaces and mines, barges, steamships and railroads, and produced more than half the country’s steel output. This stock certificate for $100,000 represents just a fraction of the $480 million Morgan paid to buy out steel magnate Andrew Carnegie.” The bottom of the marker contains a photo of 23 Wall Street surrounded by skyscrapers, and of Wall Street in the aftermath of the 1920 explosion.

Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Take a tour of the markers in lower Manhattan erected by the Alliance for Downtown New York, Inc.

Also see . . .
1. The 1914 J. P. Morgan & Co. Building. "Daytonian in Manhattan" entry. (Submitted on April 10, 2020, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.)

2. The Lost Drexel Building -- Broad and Wall Streets. "Daytonian in Manhattan" entry on the former building on the site. (Submitted on April 26, 2020, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.)

Federal Hall on Wall Street image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Bill Coughlin, June 24, 2009

3. Federal Hall on Wall Street

This photo of Federal Hall shows the marker in the extreme right foreground.

Wall Street Buildings image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Bill Coughlin, November 4, 2009

4. Wall Street Buildings

This view looks east on Wall Street. The J.P. Morgan Building can be seen here on the right, across from Federal Hall.

Library of Congress

5. J.P. Morgan

Bain News Service - George Grantham Bain Collection.

J. P. Morgan & Company Building, Wall & Broad Streets c. 1914 by Irving Underhill image. Click for full size.

Library of Congress

6. J. P. Morgan & Company Building, Wall & Broad Streets c. 1914 by Irving Underhill

The original "Heritage Trails" version, 2000 image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Larry Gertner, 2000

7. The original "Heritage Trails" version, 2000

The current" Exploring Lower Manhattan" version, 2018 image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Larry Gertner, December 14, 2018

8. The current" Exploring Lower Manhattan" version, 2018

J.P. Morgan Building scars image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Larry Gertner

9. J.P. Morgan Building scars

Some unrepaired reminders of the 1920 explosion.

Credits. This page was last revised on January 31, 2023. It was originally submitted on November 10, 2009, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey. This page has been viewed 1,301 times since then and 91 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on November 10, 2009, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey. 3. submitted on December 4, 2009, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey. 4. submitted on November 10, 2009, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey. 5, 6. submitted on September 19, 2018, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. 7, 8, 9. submitted on December 22, 2018, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.