The Panic of 1873 was the financial crisis that began after Jay Cooke & Company failed in September 1873.
Jay Cooke & Company had heavily promoted bonds for the Northern Pacific Railway. When investors lost confidence in the railroad’s financing, the bank could not meet withdrawals and collapsed. The failure helped trigger a wider banking panic in the United States.
The crisis spread through Europe, where it was closely connected to the Vienna Stock Exchange crash of May 1873. In the United States, the New York Stock Exchange temporarily closed for the first time in its history, from September 20 to September 29.
The Panic of 1873 is often linked to the Long Depression, although historians debate the exact definition and duration of that downturn. It is distinct from the Panic of 1893, another major U.S. crisis involving railroad failures and banking stress.