Which U.S. stock exchange closed for the first time during the Panic of 1873?

The New York Stock Exchange closed for the first time during the Panic of 1873.

The NYSE suspended trading on September 20, 1873, after the failure of Jay Cooke & Company and the spread of financial panic. It reopened on September 30 after remaining closed for six calendar days, including the intervening weekend. The closure reflected the severe shortage of confidence and liquidity in the market.

The panic was tied to railroad speculation, overextended credit, and problems in both American and European finance. Jay Cooke’s firm had helped finance railroads, so its failure caused investors to question the value of related securities and the solvency of other financial institutions.

The NYSE was founded in 1792 under the Buttonwood Agreement and had experienced earlier financial disturbances without closing in this way. Its 1873 shutdown is therefore a precise historical milestone, not a general description of every 19th-century market panic. Later crises produced other emergency closures, including the long closure after the 1914 outbreak of World War I.