Merchants' Exchange on Wall Street on Fire

Merchants' Exchange on Wall Street on Fire - 1835

Ruins of the Merchant's Exchange building in New York City after the destructive conflagration of December 16 & 17 1835. Nathaniel Currier's Press. Sketched and drawn on stone by John H. Bufford. Published by J. Disturnell and J. H. Bufford, copyright 1835. Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Continue below...

The Merchants' Exchange building was designed by Martin Euclid Thompson and Josiah R. Brady. It was open for business on May 1, 1827 and the building, one of the largest buildings in the City of New York at the time, was completed in July. It was home of the New York Stock and Exchange Board, the post office (basement), the Chamber of Commerce and other offices.

On the night of December 16, 1835, about nine o'clock pm, a fire started in a large warehouse at 25 Merchant Street (now Beaver Street). One hour later, several buildings were engulfed in flames. The fire reached the dome of the Exchange about half-past one o'clock, after having raged in the vicinity for hours. The basement and the rotunda were covered with goods, which had been carried there for safety. About four o'clock, the dome fell, crashing all beneath it, including the statue of Alexander Hamilton. A young officer from the navy yard and some sailors tried to save the statue. They succeeded in removing it from the pedestal, when the danger from the approaching fall of the roof compelled them to seek safety. The flames raged from 16 to 24 hours, killed two people, destroyed almost 700 buildings and three or four vessels at the wharf's on South Street.