Museum of American Finance - The Museum of American Finance, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is the nation’s only independent public museum dedicated to preserving, exhibiting and teaching about American finance and financial history. Inspired by the Stock Market Crash of 1987 and the absence of institutional memory within the financial community, the Museum was founded the following year in order to provide access to historical and educational resources. Today, as the investing public grows and the impact of market forces pervades all aspects of life, the Museum provides a context and a forum for better understanding the players, processes and forces through which the capital and commercial markets create growth and opportunity. With more than 10,000 artifacts in its permanent collection, the Museum holds the nation’s largest museum archive of financial documents and objects.  It has moved from its former home at 48 Wall Street. 

1784 - 48 Wall Street - The Bank of New York was founded in 1784. Its first offices were in the old Walton family mansion on Pearl Street, in the current Financial District.

2006 - British Memorial Garden - The Bannermans, landscape architects who often work for the British royal family, were commissioned to create this British Memorial Garden in lower Manhattan in order to memorialize the 67 Britons who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. According to the Lower Manhattan Construction Center's website, "Their concept incorporates native British foliage like yew and boxwood hedges, topiaries, and formal flowerbeds, with garden walkways paved in a dark, reflective stone from Caithness, Scotland. A lighter-toned limestone from Morayshire, Scotland, will be carved into a 'ribbon of counties' representing the entire United Kingdom. A water rill built from Welsh slate will run through the triangular garden, between benches carved from Portland, Ireland, stone and iron bollards fashioned in London." The goal is to reflect the relationship between England and the United States.

1896 - Abraham De Peyster Statue - Commissioned in the late 1800s by one of De Peyster’s great-great-great-grandsons, the seated solemn figure was created by the sculptor George Edwin Bissell. But no sooner had work begun on a foundation for the statue in Battery Park than it became the target of criticism and the city had to look for a new location.

1659 - The Great Dock - The Great Dock of New Amsterdam was the only pier that projected into the Hudson River for till the 1770's. It handled all the large ships arriving to the colony.  In 1664, for instance, the Dutch ship Gideon arrived from Angola with with a cargo of 291 Africans which was the largest shipment of enslaved men, women, and children brought to the Dutch colony. The Dutch West India Company relied on Africans to build homes, fortifications, and even the Great Dock.  Before the Gideon could be loaded again for its return trip, British warships arrived. Without a single shot being fired, New Amsterdam became New York, and about 150 Dutch soldiers marched onto the Gideon to sail home.

1825 - Erie Canal - DeWitt Clinton shepharded the completion of the Erie Canal at a cost of $7 million $, the canal was 363 miles length including 565 miles of changing elevation.  - lowered the cost of shipping made trade easier.  It was the first from east to west transportation route in the country allowing the agricultural products of  reducing cost of transport by 90%... enabling agriculture products to reach the sea making New York a major commercial port. 

1972 - 55 Water Street - This building weighs in as one of the largest office buildings in New York at 3.5 million square feet of office space.  It sits on a superblock assembled from four adjoining city blocks.  Part of the reason for its bloat is that there is a 'privately owned public space' on its podium over what once was Front Street.  There have been several owners and at one point it even had a branch of the Whitney Museum on the lower levels.  It survived Superstorm Sandy.  The storm surge deposited 32 million gallons of water flooding the three basement levels and part of the lobby. 

2005 - The Elevated Acre - Adding a 'Zoning Bonus' public plaza to the project meant that 55 Water Street would be able to be much larger.  It was renovated into what is often described as one of New York's 'hidden parks and garden oases'.  It has become considerably less 'hidden' as Lower Manhattan has been transformed into a residential neighborhood. 

1835 - India House (orig. Hanover Bank, NY Cotton Exchange) - Modeled after a Renaissance palazzo, residential palaces of Italian banking families, the building first served as the home of the Hanover Bank. The name India House was selected to symbolize the Indies, which were believed to epitomize the rare and exotic. The name also pays homage to the Dutch West India Company, the first colonizers of Manhattan. After the Hanover Bank moved out, the property became the possession of Robert L. Maitland. His company Maitland and Company were tobacco importers. The property was subsequently used by the New York Cotton Exchange (1870 to 1885), and later by W.R. Grace & Company.

1962 - 5 Hanover Square - Even though Lower Manhattan is becoming more residential, at least half of the buildings downtown remain office buildings.  This is one of them with a tenant mix that has expanded from strictly financial to one that blends coworking spaces with tech firms.

1969 - 10 Hanover Square - It was originally designed as an office building (Goldman Sachs even had space there).  Like many buildings in Lower Manhattan, it has been converted into apartments.  It appears that the developer received a 421-g tax break 15 years ago when it was renovated and was required to include some rent regulated units.  There is a court case pending whereby two of the tenants, Bruce Hackney and Tim Smith, have discovered that they are actually paying market rents for what are officially regulated units.  They are not alone as many other landlords of other former Financial District office buildings availed themselves of a similar tax break

1907 - Banca Commerciale Italiana - This building has housed some of the more famous and infamous financial service firms.  Originally constructed on the site of Isaac Seligman's original store, the firm bought 4 adjacent lots and constructed the firm's headquarters when they became involved in investment banking after the Civil War.  Then it became the headquarters of the Lehman Brothers holdings in 1929.  Among the firm amenities was the company dining room which the New York Times rated as the best lunch in the Wall St area in 1979.  The building is now owned by Banca Commerciale Italiana who had their architect Gino Valle complete an addition in 1986. Lehman, alas, didn't fare quite as well and collapsed in 2008.

2008 - Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy Filing - At $600 billion the collapse still ranks as the largest bankruptcy filing in US history.  Lehman was heavily invested in the subprime mortgage market.  At the time they had about $22 billion in assets which it leveraged into $680 billion in real estate investments.  When the value of homes declined in 2007, it triggered a call on Lever which was unable to cover the loans.  The US government stepped in but they were unable to come to terms on an agreement and so Lehman want bankrupt.  The stock market immediately shed nearly 5% of its value and a recession followed. 

1827 - Delmonico's Restaurant - December 13, 1827 – December 16, 1835 (destroyed by fire)

2010 - William Beaver House - Nicknamed the 'Post it Notes Building' it was originally designed to be a condominium.  The developer had to start renting the luxury units in 2011 when they were not selling during the downturn. The lavish amenities include a 40-seat screening room, a lap pool, a basketball court with stadium lighting, and a landscaped covered dog run. It also has a “lifestyle manager" to preside over it. 

1628 - Mill Lane - What may be the narrowest path in New York dates to the early Dutch colonists.  It was originally called Elliot's Alley and probably takes its current name from a mill built to grind the bark that the tanners used.

1654 - Shearith Israel Synagogue - 23 Jewish refugees from Recife, Brazil on their way back to Holland were stranded in New Amsterdam after their ship was wrecked. Since it was difficult for them to return to Europe they asked Peter Stuyvesant, the anti-Semitic Director of New Netherland, if they could remain. He didn't really want them to stay, so he wrote to his directors at the Dutch West India Company asking for permission to force them to leave.  The Company was having trouble attracting settlers to the colony and were delighted to have the additional residents. Initially, they rented space on Mill Street for a synagogue and then constructed their own building.  The congregation is currently uptown on Central Park West.  Their cemetery is in Chinatown.

1658 - Stone Street - First paved street in America was named after the cobblestones it was constructed of.

1983 - 85 Broad Street - The former headquarters of Goldman Sachs, this 27-story building is known for being a forgettable-looking piece of architecture in lower Manhattan which is how the AIA Guide described it.  To Eliot Brown writing in the New Yorker it was “one of those bland, squint-windowed, stone-fronted thirty-story monstrosities.  The brownish tower isn’t interesting enough to be ugly: You have to know what’s inside before anything gets interesting. Goldman Sachs became the world’s most important firm in a spectacularly dull, purposefully frumpy, desperately anonymous tower. Inside, it smelled like cigarettes in the 1980s and homemade chocolate chip cookies on the 30th floor. Babies cried in the first-floor day-care center; Jon Corzine worked outside in a Town Car parked on the curb after his ousting; and Hank Paulson felt sad when birds flew into the windows."

1907 - 1907 Bankers' Panic Knickerbocker Crisis - The Panic of 1907 began with a run on the Knickerbocker Trust Co. of New York. News soon emerged that it was caught up in a scam by bankers Augustus Heinze and Charles Morse, who had borrowed and embezzled vast sums to corner the market in shares of United Copper causing the NY Stock Exchange to fall 50% from its peak  

1670 - Lovelace Tavern : Stadt Huys Block - Between 1670-1706 then-Governor, Colonel Francis Lovelace owned a bar which was uncovered during the construction of 85 Broad; the foundation walls can be seen in the sidewalk

1990 - Drexel Burnham Lambert declares bankruptcy - 60 Broad Street, the former home of the now-defunct Drexel Burnham Lambert. Founded by IW Tubby Burnham as a retail brokerage which expanded into investment banking only to be brought down by 1980's SEC investigations of insider trading, stock manipulation, Ivan Boesky's revelations, and Michael Milken's  junk bonds and declaring bankruptcy in 1990.  

1908 - American Bank Note Company Building - The monumental granite structure was designed in the form of a classical temple, popular at the time for banks. This was the headquarters of the American Bank Note Company, which was responsible for the production of bank notes, paper currencies, stock certificates, and postage stamps, both domestic and international, prior to the establishment of the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The company was formed in 1858, but its origins trace back to 1795. The American Bank Note Company still prints securities as well as paper bank notes for foreign countries. Actual printing was carried out in the south Bronx at the company's production offices in Hunt's Point.

1987 - 'Wall Street' Released - Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" becomes synonymous with 80's financial excess.  It is a radical critique of the capitalist trading mentality. Michael Douglas won an Oscar as Gordon Gekko "Greed is Good" for a character said to have been modeled on Ivan Boesky.  

1962 - 60 Broad Street - Bright and airy, 60 Broad combines classic American style and clean, modern lines. In addition to private offices (many of which have harbor views), 60 Broad features around  15 to 50 person suites that are easily customizable.

1989 - Charging Bull - In the wake of the stock market crash of 1987, Arturo Di Modica installed his 7 ton in the middle of the night in front of the NYSE as a 'Christmas Gift to the People of NY'.   After leaving it at the foot of a Christmas tree in front of the Stock Exchange, the 7,000-pound sculpture was discovered and sculpture was promptly impounded into storage in Queens. 

2011 - Occupy Wall Street - Protesters set up camp in Zuccotti Park bringing economic inequality into the national spotlight spawning a worldwide Occupy movement.  

1876 - 23 Wall Street - The Drexel Building at 23 Wall Street in New York, the six-story tower that Anthony Drexel had erected for J.P. Morgan in 1876.

1920 - Wall Street Bombing of 1920 - As a symbol of Wall Street excesses, 23 Wall Street, the Bank of JP Morgan, was the target of a bomb attack on September 16, 1920. 33people were killed and more than 400 were injured. The perpetrators were never found. The facade also suffered significant damage. The pock marks from the explosion are still visible in the marble facade.

1929 - Stock Market Crash of 1929 - On "Black Thursday", the economic bubble of the Roaring Twenties finally burst. Triggered by an overconfident public who were actively trading stocks purchased with easy credit, a raise in the interest rate by the Federal Reserve, low wages, the proliferation of debt, a struggling agricultural sector and an excess of large bank loans that could not be liquidated.  

1817 - New York Stock Exchange - A group of NY brokers formally establish the New York Stock and Exchange Board, an organization that later will be renamed the NewYork Stock Exchange (N.Y.S.E.). formalized and established its first quarters in a rented room at 40 Wall St.  The exchange grew into the largest in the world of companies listed with a capitalization of over $30 trillion. Technology changed as inventions such as the telegraph, stock ticker, and computers transformed stock trading from the physical exchange of documents between specialist brokers on the trading floor to an electronic platform.  

1703 - Federal Hall National Memorial - Around 1699, de Peyster donated part of his garden for the construction of a new city hall. That building was later renamed Federal Hall, which briefly served as the first capitol of the United States, and the site of the first inauguration of George Washington as president. It was replaced in 1842 with the Greek Renaissance structure that stands there today.

1883 - George Washington Statue at Federal Hall - This sculpture depicts the moment after President Washington took the oath of office, which he did at Federal Hall on Wall Street in 1789. The pedestal was designed by Richard Morris Hunt.

1836 - 55 Wall Street - The lowest three stories were built in 1836–1841 as the four-story Merchants' Exchange and designed by Isaiah Rogers in the Greek Revival style. The Merchants' Exchange building was erected to replace an older structure that had burned down in the Great New York City Fire of 1835.

1929 - 40 Wall Street - This 927-foot tall, 71 story skyscraper was erected in an unprecedented twelve months beginning in May, 1929, and became the second tallest building in the world. The contractors, Starrett Brothers & Eken, went on to erect the Empire State Building.

1946 - Plane crashes into 40 Wall Street - An Army Air Force plane crashed into the 58th floor of the 40 Wall Street building on its way to Newark Airport. All 5 aboard died. 

1930 - 70 Pine St. - The Cities Service Building was constructed during the New York skyscraper race, which accounts for its gothic-like spire-topped appearance, a popular architectural style at that time. When completed it was the third tallest building in the world, after the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. It was the last skyscraper to be built in Lower Manhattan prior to World War II, and was the tallest building in Lower Manhattan until the 1970s when the World Trade Center was completed.

1960 - Chase Manhattan Plaza - This 800' high building was designed by Gordon Bunshaft for client David Rockefeller with the intention of reviving the Financial District in the 1950's. It features a large public plaza, subway entrances, and an open lobby with many works of commissioned public art.

Building Chase Manhattan - These are a series of construction photos on the subway concourse which show how the building was built, the sculpture installed and the Noguchi plaza installed. They were taken over a period of three years, building in 1961, plaza in 1964 and dubuffet in 1974.

1961 - Sunken Garden - This sunken garden was inspired by traditional Japanese zen gardens. In the wintertime, the sculpture is dry. In the summer, the space turns into a fountain; water flows around spaces of the area.

1972 - Groupe de Quatre Arbres - This piece is made of fiberglass composite and is supported by stainless steel tubing.

1919 - Federal Reserve Bank of New York - The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses New York state, the 12 northern counties of New Jersey, Fairfield County in Connecticut, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A public competition for design of the building was held and the architectural firm of York and Sawyer submitted the winning design. The bank moved to its current location in 1924. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York maintains a vault that lies 80 feet (24 m) below street level and 50 feet (15 m) below sea level, resting on Manhattan bedrock. By 1927, the vault contained 10% of the world's official gold reserves. Currently, it is reputedly the largest gold repository in the world (though this cannot be confirmed as Swiss banks do not report their gold stocks) and holds approximately 7,000 tonnes (7,700 short tons) of gold bullion ($415 billion as of October 2011), more than Fort Knox. 

1934 - US Gold Reserve Act - Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in January 1934, the Act was the culmination of Roosevelt’s controversial gold program. Among other things, the Act transferred ownership of all monetary gold in the United States to the US Treasury and prohibited the Treasury and financial institutions from redeeming dollars for gold.