The 1893 U.S. financial crisis marked by bank failures and railway bankruptcies was the Panic of 1893. It began after confidence weakened in railroads and financial institutions, followed by the failure of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad and the National Cordage Company.
The crisis produced bank runs, business failures, falling investment, and high unemployment. More than 500 banks and dozens of railroads failed during the depression that followed, though exact counts vary by definition and source.
The federal government’s gold reserves also came under pressure. President Grover Cleveland ultimately arranged a private bond sale led by J. P. Morgan to replenish the Treasury’s gold supply, a controversial episode in U.S. political and financial history.
The Panic of 1893 is distinct from the Panic of 1873 and Panic of 1907. All three involved railways or banking, but their dates and immediate triggers were different.