Terror on Wall Street * Damn Interesting

Terror on Wall Street • Damn Interesting

On 16 September 1920, throngs of brokers, clerks, and office workers poured from the buildings lining New York City's Wall Street as a nearby church bell struck twelve o'clock. The narrow cobblestone street became a river of sputtering automobiles and scurrying pedestrians as the financial district employees set out to make the most of their mid-day break. → The intersection of Wall Street and Broad Street was locally known as "The Corner," so-named for its collection of influential entities. JP Morgan at that time was the world's most powerful financial institution, ruling over a significant portion of the global economy; just to the north was the US Assay office, where the purity of precious metals was tested many tons at a time; and around the corner stood the home of the NYSE. A US Sub-Treasury and Federal Reserve Bank also stood nearby, housed within the Federal Hall which had once been the site of the United States' capitol building.

Read full article from Terror on Wall Street • Damn Interesting