Which event is widely associated with the start of the Long Depression after a 1873 financial panic?

The failure of Jay Cooke & Company was widely associated with the start of the Long Depression after the Panic of 1873.

Jay Cooke & Company, a major U.S. investment bank, suspended operations on September 18, 1873. Its failure followed heavy investment in railroads and rising concern about the Northern Pacific Railway, helping trigger a broader financial panic.

The crisis spread through banks, railroads, and businesses. The New York Stock Exchange closed temporarily, and the failure of many rail companies contributed to prolonged unemployment, deflation, and weak investment.

The downturn became known as the Long Depression, although historians differ over its exact dates and severity in different countries. In the United States, it lasted far longer than a typical market correction. The panic also reflected international financial strains, including problems connected with European banking and the end of the Franco-Prussian War boom.