Which neoclassical building in Philadelphia was the home of the First Bank of the United States?

The First Bank of the United States was the Philadelphia neoclassical building that housed the nation’s first federally chartered bank.

Congress chartered the bank on February 25, 1791, after Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton argued that it would strengthen the new federal government’s finances and credit. Philadelphia was the national capital from 1790 to 1800, so the bank’s headquarters were established there. Its permanent building was completed in 1797 on South Third Street.

The structure is an early masterpiece of monumental Classical Revival design, with a severe, temple-like appearance that influenced American civic architecture. The bank operated until its twenty-year charter expired in 1811. Stephen Girard later acquired the building and much of the bank’s stock for his own financial operation.

Carpenters’ Hall is linked to the bank because it hosted the institution’s first operations in 1791. The Second Bank of the United States was a later and separate institution, also located in Philadelphia.