The 1893 U.S. financial crisis that followed the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad failure was the Panic of 1893.
The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad entered receivership in February 1893 after years of financial strain. Its failure helped undermine confidence in railroad securities, which were heavily represented in American investment portfolios. A run on banks and withdrawals of gold followed, worsening the pressure on the financial system.
The panic became part of a severe economic depression. More than 500 banks and roughly 15,000 businesses failed in the United States, according to commonly cited historical estimates. Railroad bankruptcies were especially prominent, and unemployment rose sharply. The crisis also intensified the national political dispute over gold and silver policy.
The event is sometimes mixed up with the Panic of 1873, which began amid railroad speculation and the failure of Jay Cooke & Company, or with the Panic of 1907, which prompted reforms leading eventually to the Federal Reserve. The Panic of 1893 was the major U.S. financial crisis of its own decade.