The 1873 financial panic associated with Jay Cooke & Company and the end of the U.S. railroad boom was the Panic of 1873.
Jay Cooke & Company failed in September 1873 after it could not sell enough bonds connected with the Northern Pacific Railway. The failure undermined confidence in banks and railroads, prompting a run on financial institutions and a temporary closure of the New York Stock Exchange.
The panic occurred within a broader international downturn often called the Long Depression. Excess railroad construction, speculative investment, falling commodity prices, and banking weaknesses all contributed. The United States experienced years of deflation and high unemployment, although the severity and timing varied by country.
The panic is sometimes called the Great Depression before the better-known 1930s depression. That label reflects its length and international reach, not an identical economic experience.