23 Wall Street -J.P. Morgan & Company Building
Architect: Trowbridge & Livingston.Completed: 1914. Known simply as 23 Wall, the buildings on the corner of Wall and Broad Street have represented the epicenter of American capitalism for over a century. The headquarters of J.P. Morgan and Co., originally Drexel, Morgan & Co., have been located here since its founding in 1873. The original building, obsolete by 1912, was replaced by this three story structure, which could be termed the anti-skyscraper. It was an expression of the extraordinary wealth of the so-called "House of Morgan" that it could erect such a discreetly scaled banking hall on one of the most valuable and prominent plots of land in the city. The bank's Wall Street facade still bears the scars of a 1920 anarchist's bomb attack that killed 33 people. J.P. Morgan?s immense wealth and his near monopoly of banking, shipping, and many other industries made him a lightning rod for the discontent of many.