55 Wall Street
Coordinates: 40°42′22″N 74°00′33″W / 40.706039°N 74.009174°W / 40.706039; -74.009174
| National City Bank Building | |
| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
| U.S. National Historic Landmark | |
| NYC Landmark | |
| (2012) | |
| Location: | 55 Wall Street Manhattan, New York City |
|---|---|
| Built: | 1836-1841, additions 1907-1910 |
| Architect: | Isaiah Rogers (original), McKim, Mead & White (additions) |
| Architectural style: | Greek Revival (original), Roman (additions) |
| NRHP Reference#: | 78001875 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP: | June 2, 1978 |
| Designated NHL: | June 2, 1978 |
| Designated NYCL: | December 21, 1965 |
The National City Bank Building at 55 Wall Street between William and Hanover Streets in the Financial District of downtown Manhattan, New York City, was built in 1836-41 as the Merchants' Exchange, replacing the previous exchange, which had burned down in the Great Fire of New York in 1835. The new building was designed by Isaiah Rogers in the Greek Revival style. The United States Custom House moved into the building in 1862 – with the conversion of the building overseen by William A. Potter – and occupied it until 1907, when it moved to the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House at 1 Bowling Green.
After the Custom House left, James Stillman, president of National City Bank, arranged for his company to buy the building from the government to be their headquarters. Charles Follen McKim of McKim, Mead & White was engaged to enlarge the building, including removing the dome, adding four floors and a second colonnade and gutting the interior, the main floor of which McKim redesigned with William S. Richardson (1907-1910). The old main banking hall has been used as a ballroom and event space since 1998, and the remainder of the building is now condominium apartments.
Read more about 55 Wall Street: Architecture, In Popular Culture
Famous quotes containing the words wall street, wall and/or street:
“This is Wall Street, and today is important. Because tomorrow, July 4th, I intended to make my first million dollars—an exciting day in a man’s life. The enterprise was slightly illegal.”
—Abraham Polonsky (b. 1910)
“A man whose mind feels that it is captive would prefer to blind himself to the fact. But if he hates falsehood, he will not do so; and in that case he will have to suffer a lot. He will beat his head against the wall until he faints. He will come to again and look with terror at the wall, until one day he begins afresh to beat his head against it; and once again he will faint. And so on endlessly and without hope. One day he will wake up on the other side of the wall.”
—Simone Weil (1909–1943)
“I mount the steps and ring the bell, turning
Wearily, as one would turn to nod good-bye to Rochefoucauld,
If the street were time and he at the end of the street,
And I say, “Cousin Harriet, here is the Boston Evening Transcript.””
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)