Which bank's failure in September 1873 helped trigger the Panic of 1873 in the United States?

Jay Cooke & Company’s failure in September 1873 helped trigger the Panic of 1873 in the United States.

Jay Cooke & Company was a major Philadelphia-based investment bank that had financed much of the Union war effort during the American Civil War. After the war, it invested heavily in railroads, especially the Northern Pacific Railway. When investors lost confidence in the railroad’s prospects, the bank could not sell enough new bonds to meet its obligations.

The firm suspended payments on September 18, 1873. Its failure was followed by a run on banks and a suspension of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The panic spread internationally and contributed to a long economic downturn often called the Long Depression.

Jay Cooke’s collapse was not the only cause. Excessive railroad speculation, tight credit, and failures in European financial markets also played important roles. The event is sometimes confused with the Vienna Stock Exchange crash earlier that year, which helped set the broader crisis in motion.