Merchants' Exchange Building

Story

The Merchants' Exchange Building is a historic building located on the triangular site bounded by Dock Street, Third Street, and Walnut Street in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was designed by architect William Strickland, in the Greek Revival style, the first national American architectural style and built between 1832 and 1834. It operated as a brokerage house in the nineteenth century, but by 1875 the Philadelphia Stock Exchange had taken the place of the Merchants' Exchange.The building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2001. It is the oldest existing stock exchange building in the United States, but is now used as the headquarters of the Independence National Historical Park.OriginThe City Tavern, which had been the center of the Philadelphia business community since it was built in 1773, became increasingly crowded because of the unsuitability of its floor plan to accommodate its growing clientele. At this time, Philadelphia epitomized America's ideal city by maintaining strong economic, political, and architectural advancements. The middle class was strengthening and citizens were becoming more inclined to start their own businesses, so commerce and trade continued to thrive. The economic boom of the Jacksonian era reinforced the idea among merchants that there was a need for a centralized exchange building. In 1831, a group of prominent Philadelphians led by Stephen Girard, the nation's wealthiest man at the time, constructed a building for trade, commerce, and post to preside. Thus, they founded the Philadelphia Exchange Company and appointed an architect to begin the introductory stages of creating what later became the Merchants' Exchange Building.