Old Tontine Building, Wall Street & Water St.

The historic Tontine Building at 82 Wall Street, on northwest corner of Water Street, was completed in 1855. This was the second Tontine Building erected on this same site of a total of three.

The Tontine Coffee House, was completed here about June, 1793, on the site of the Merchants' Coffee House, which had moved across the street. The Tontine Association was formally organized on June 4, 1794, and the nominations of subscribers were completed by March, 1795. The 203 shares were held by 157 shareholders.

The Tontine Coffee House was renamed Tontine Building in 1834 following a revision of the statutes of the association. In 1843, the legislature passed and act confirming the revised statutes of the Tontine Building, managed by "The Committee of the Tontine Building". In 1855, the property was leased to William H. Aspinwall (1807-1875), co-founder of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company and the Panama Canal Railway. The old building was demolished in May 1855 to make way for the second Tontine Building, in the same year.

The Tontine Building, constructed in 1855, was designed by architect James Renwick Jr. (1818-1895), born in New York City and noted for designing churches and museums, including the Gothic Grace Church. It was a notable edifice, faced with French granite, of a soft hue. It had a frontage on Wall street of sixty-eight feet, the ground floor was designed for banking corporations; the upper floors, approached by a handsome circular iron stair-case, were arranged for offices. The building and fittings cost far more than the original estimate, causing several assessments on the subscribers of the Tontine plan.

This Tontine Building housed offices of the Panama Railroad Company, the Ohio and Mississippi R.R. Company, Wm.T. Coleman & Co. (California Line), Babcock, Cooley & Co., Ross, Falconer & Co. (line for San Francisco), Fisher, Ricards & Co. (clipper ships for Melbourne) and other companies.

A suit in partition began in 1870. On January 11, 1881, the Tontine Building was sold at public auction to Peter J. O'Donohue and the Tontine Association was closed.

The second was demolished in 1901 to make way for the 12-story Tontine Building, completed in 1902 and enlarged after 1904. It is now the Wall Street Hotel.