First National City Bank
Also known as: Merchant's Exchange
Why it's listed
Occupying a quadrilateral site at 55 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, this granite building began as the Merchant's Exchange, built between 1836 and 1842 to a design by Isaiah Rogers. It replaced an older exchange lost in the Great Fire of 1835. In 1862 it became the United States Custom House, and when customs operations moved to the Battery, the National City Bank acquired the building and saved it. In 1907 McKim, Mead & White added four stories, topping the original Ionic colonnade with a Corinthian one in keeping with Classical precedent. The result is an eight-story building with a great coffered banking hall and what are probably the tallest monolithic columns in the city. It is also one of the few landmark buildings in New York fully exposed on all four sides. The nomination describes it as a monumental Classical work and a successful enlargement that preserved its proportions.
Significance in brief: The nomination calls it an extremely handsome, monumental Classical building with probably the tallest monolithic columns in the city. It combines Isaiah Rogers's Greek Revival base with a 1907 addition by McKim, Mead & White. It is also presented as a successful enlargement that kept good proportions and Classical tradition, and as a visible expression of commercial power.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 72000872, listed August 18, 1972. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 55 Wall St., New York |
|---|---|
| County | Manhattan |
| Listed | August 18, 1972 |
| Reference number | 72000872 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | Base 1842; upper stories 1907 (19th and 20th centuries) |
| Architect / builder | Isaiah Rogers (original Merchant's Exchange); McKim, Mead & White (1907 addition) |
| Architectural style | Classical; Greek Revival base with early 20th-century Classical addition |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | National |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Listed as occupied, in excellent condition and altered; owned by the bank and in commercial use. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Within district | Wall Street Historic District |
| Coordinates | 40.70618, -74.00949 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 72000872.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.