The New York Stock Exchange Was Founded in 1792 and Its Current Building Was Built in 1910 for Four Million Dollars

New York Stock Exchange

History

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) was founded by 24 New York City stockbrokers in 1792 with the signing of the Buttonwood Agreement. The NYSE’s first constitution was put into effect in 1817 and the first listing was the Bank of New York. In 1901, the NYSE enlisted the services of eight top architects for the purpose of designing what would become the new NYSE building. The winning architect was George B. Post and his design began to transform into a reality on May 1, 1910 when the old NYSE building at 10 Broad Street demolished. The new building would cost approximately four million dollars to complete.

The Floor

The floor of the NYSE is surrounded by 72 feet tall marble walls. The floor measures 109 by 140 feet. The front of the building is made almost entirely of glass which gives the appearance of one giant window that measures 96 feet long and 50 feet high. A 30 feet square skylight allows light to shine in through the ceiling.

Changes to the Architecture

The building was one of the nation’s first to incorporate air conditioning and boasts its own emergency hospital. There are separate dining rooms for smokers and non-smokers and the building’s façade plays host to some of the most recognizable sculptural figures in the country. However, these 90 ton marble pieces of art were replaced by lead coated replicas because of imperfections in the marble as well as the sheer weight of the marble. This replacement was done in 1936.

Additions

In 1922, Trowbridge and Livingston designed and opened the 11 Wall Street Building that added a 23 story office building as well as a trading floor that would become nicknamed the garage. In 1969, an increase in trading volume required the opening of a new trading room that would be called the blue room. The blue room allowed the NYSE to increase its trading space by almost 20 percent. In 1988, the blue room was increased in size to create the extended blue room (EBR). The year 2000 brought a fifth trading room into existence that was opened at 30 Broad Street.

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