Which U.S. city’s stock exchange was at the center of the Panic of 1907?

New York City’s stock exchange was at the center of the Panic of 1907. The crisis began after an unsuccessful attempt to corner the shares of United Copper Company, which damaged confidence in banks and trust companies connected to the speculators.

The panic spread through New York’s financial system as depositors withdrew funds. The Knickerbocker Trust Company, then one of the city’s largest trust companies, suspended operations after financier J. P. Morgan refused to provide further support. Morgan organized private rescue measures and persuaded banks to supply emergency liquidity.

The episode exposed weaknesses in the United States banking system, which lacked a central bank capable of acting as a lender of last resort. Its aftermath helped inspire the creation of the Federal Reserve System in 1913. The Panic of 1907 therefore links a New York market crisis to a major institutional reform.