During the Panic of 1873, the New York Stock Exchange was closed for 10 days.
The exchange suspended trading on September 20, 1873, after the failure of Jay Cooke & Company triggered widespread financial panic. It reopened on September 30. The closure reflected the limited ability of nineteenth-century financial institutions to absorb a sudden wave of insolvencies and demands for cash.
Jay Cooke’s firm had heavily promoted Northern Pacific Railway bonds, and investor confidence weakened as railroad financing came under pressure. The failure helped expose broader problems involving excessive speculation, debt, and the international financial system. The panic spread beyond the United States and contributed to a long economic depression.
The 1873 episode is often grouped with the collapse of the Vienna stock exchange earlier that year, which helped transmit financial stress internationally. It is also sometimes called the Long Depression, although historians differ over the precise boundaries and severity of that depression. The NYSE closure lasted 10 calendar days, not merely 10 trading sessions.