Which U.S. bank was originally founded as the Manhattan Company in 1799?

The bank originally founded as the Manhattan Company in 1799 was JPMorgan Chase, through its predecessor institutions.

The Manhattan Company was established in New York on 1 September 1799. It was created ostensibly to supply clean water to Manhattan, but its charter allowed surplus funds to be used for banking. That provision enabled the company to establish what became the Bank of the Manhattan Company.

The institution passed through several major mergers and name changes. In 1955, the Bank of the Manhattan Company merged with Chase National Bank to form Chase Manhattan Bank. Chase later combined with Chemical Bank and, in 2000, with J.P. Morgan & Co. to create JPMorgan Chase.

The 1799 date therefore refers to JPMorgan Chase’s oldest predecessor, not to the modern corporation itself. JPMorgan Chase & Co. was formed in 2000, while its Manhattan banking lineage reaches back more than two centuries.