Touch History #2

The Bombs of Wall Street

Directly across the street from the New York Stock Exchange and Federal Hall (site of George Washington's inauguration) stands the J.P. Morgan bank builidng. On September 16, 1920, as the streets were filling with people on their way to lunch, someone pulled up a horse-drawn wagon to the side of the building and walked away. The wagon was full of explosives and when it exploded the blast killed thirty-three people and injured hundreds. The flying debris left pockmark scars up the side of the building and weren't repaired as Morgan felt they were a testament to his invincibility. The investigations centered on Sicilian, Romanian and Russian terrorist groups; however, no leads developed and the FBI dropped the case in 1940.

(Historical assistance provided by Forgotten New York: The Ultimate Urban Explorer's Guide to All Five Boroughs.)