Merchants' Exchange Building
- Architect
- William Strickland
- Year
- 1834
- Style
- Greek Revival
- City
- Philadelphia, PA
The Merchants' Exchange Building is the oldest surviving stock exchange building in the United States, designed by William Strickland and built between 1832 and 1834 on the triangular site where Dock, 3rd, and Walnut Streets meet in Old City. It was raised in the Greek Revival style — America's first national architectural style — to give Philadelphia's crowded business community a proper home after the old City Tavern of 1773 could no longer accommodate it.
the building
A curved Greek Revival portico. The exchange's Greek Revival design gave brokers a formal civic address to replace the cramped City Tavern, where Philadelphia's business community had gathered since 1773 until its floor plan could no longer handle the growing clientele.
From brokerage to park headquarters. The building operated as a brokerage house through the nineteenth century until the Philadelphia Stock Exchange took over its functions by 1875. Today it houses the headquarters of Independence National Historical Park.
the style
Strickland designed the exchange in the Greek Revival style, often called the first truly national American architectural style — a fitting choice for a building meant to project Philadelphia's standing as a center of commerce in the young republic.
More on Greek Revivalthe architect
William Strickland was a major American architect of the era; the Merchants' Exchange stands among his significant Greek Revival works.
significance
The Merchants' Exchange was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2001 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; it survives as the oldest existing stock exchange building in the United States.
nearby
- First Bank of the United States
- United States Custom House
- Carpenters' Hall
- Powel House
- Society Hill Towers
- Second Bank of the United States