After decades of being closed to the public, the bank that Hamilton built reopens in Philadelphia\u2019s Old City this Wednesday.\n<\/p>\n
After $43 million of renovations by the National Park Service, the First Bank of the United States building at 3rd Street near Chestnut is once again a public amenity, with an exhibition by the U.S. Department of State featuring precious diplomatic gifts that have never been publicly displayed before.\n<\/p>\n
The classical building, wrapped in marble with towering columns and grand steps, was built in 1797 as the flagship of the First National Bank, Alexander Hamilton\u2019s bold and controversial idea to create a federal banking system. Some of the founding fathers, most prominently Thomas Jefferson, were fundamentally opposed to the new government centralizing banking and currency.\n<\/p>\n
Independence National Historic Park ranger Bill Caughlan said Hamilton needed to sell the concept of national financial stability by creating monumental buildings.\n <\/p>\n
\u201cThe building itself is designed to convey confidence, strength, stability for a bank at a time when not everyone thought well of banks,\u201d Caughlan said. \u201cYou want to have something that looks impressive and would instill confidence in people.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Several branches of the First National Bank were built in coastal cities with a lot of trade. One of the chief functions of the bank was to collect tariffs from merchants importing goods from overseas.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of times these merchants weren\u2019t able to afford to pay the tariff, they haven\u2019t sold their goods yet, so they could take a loan out from the bank at a percentage, maybe for 60 days, deal with what they had to do with their goods and then repay the loan,\u201d Caughlin said. \u201cThat part of it worked pretty well.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
One of the surviving First Bank buildings is in Charleston, South Carolina, where it is now used as City Hall.
\nArtifacts from the 1976 Bicentennial celebration in Philadelphia are on display in a temporary exhibition at the First Bank of the United States building. (Peter Crimmins\/WHYY)\n<\/p>\n
The Philadelphia building outlasted the institution for which it was built. The U.S. Congress chartered Hamilton\u2019s idea for 20 years, from 1791 to 1811, when it did not renew the charter. The building was then bought by Stephen Girard, then the wealthiest man in America, for use as a private bank. After Girard\u2019s death in 1831, the building was sold to another private bank that named itself after Girard.\n<\/p>\n
In the 20th century, the building was acquired by the National Park Service, which then used it for storage.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe architectural collection was stored here,\u201d Caughlan said. \u201cIn the basement, we kept our brochures.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Although the public was not allowed inside the building, interest never faded. The front steps are popular with wedding photographers, and following the success of the musical \u201cHamilton,\u201d people come just to see his legacy.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a random day in the last 10 years, I couldn\u2019t tell you the exact year \u2026 the building was open to the public for one day,\u201d said park ranger Michael Carbonaro. \u201cIn that day, about 3,000 people came through.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
In 2023, the Independence Historic Trust announced plans to restore and renovate the building, with preliminary ideas to transform it into a museum of the American economy. Since then, the concept has narrowed to the building\u2019s history.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to focus on what this building represents because it is an actual artifact itself,\u201d said Rosalind Remer, director of Drexel University\u2019s Lenfest Center for Cultural Partnerships. \u201cIt is an artifact that allows us to tell the story of Hamilton, the founding of the bank, why he did it, what happened to it after 20 years, and why there\u2019s a Second Bank around the corner.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Such an exhibition will likely be ready in 2028. Until then, the building will be open with temporary exhibitions.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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After $43 million of renovations by the National Park Service, the First Bank of the United States building at 3rd Street near Chestnut is once again a public amenity, with an exhibition by the U.S. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/whyy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/first-bank-pcrimmins-2026-06-29-2.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11573],"tags":[1191,21960,2024,15826,663,12976,955],"class_list":["post-31749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-philadelphia-breaking-news","tag-bank","tag-historical-building","tag-museum","tag-philadelphia-250","tag-philadelphias","tag-reopens","tag-u-s"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/whyy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/first-bank-pcrimmins-2026-06-29-2.jpeg",0,0,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/whyy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/first-bank-pcrimmins-2026-06-29-2.jpeg",0,0,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/whyy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/first-bank-pcrimmins-2026-06-29-2.jpeg",0,0,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/whyy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/first-bank-pcrimmins-2026-06-29-2.jpeg",150,150,false],"medium":["https:\/\/whyy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/first-bank-pcrimmins-2026-06-29-2.jpeg",300,300,false],"large":["https:\/\/whyy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/first-bank-pcrimmins-2026-06-29-2.jpeg",1024,1024,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/whyy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/first-bank-pcrimmins-2026-06-29-2.jpeg",1536,1536,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/whyy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/first-bank-pcrimmins-2026-06-29-2.jpeg",2048,2048,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/whyy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/first-bank-pcrimmins-2026-06-29-2.jpeg",370,265,false],"kava-thumb-s":["https:\/\/whyy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/first-bank-pcrimmins-2026-06-29-2.jpeg",150,85,false],"kava-thumb-s-2":["https:\/\/whyy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/first-bank-pcrimmins-2026-06-29-2.jpeg",230,230,false],"kava-thumb-m":["https:\/\/whyy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/first-bank-pcrimmins-2026-06-29-2.jpeg",400,400,false],"kava-thumb-m-vertical":["https:\/\/whyy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/first-bank-pcrimmins-2026-06-29-2.jpeg",370,500,false],"kava-thumb-m-2":["https:\/\/whyy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/first-bank-pcrimmins-2026-06-29-2.jpeg",570,450,false],"kava-thumb-l":["https:\/\/whyy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/first-bank-pcrimmins-2026-06-29-2.jpeg",1170,650,false],"kava-thumb-xl":["https:\/\/whyy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/first-bank-pcrimmins-2026-06-29-2.jpeg",1920,1080,false],"kava-thumb-masonry":["https:\/\/whyy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/first-bank-pcrimmins-2026-06-29-2.jpeg",600,999,false],"kava-thumb-justify":["https:\/\/whyy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/first-bank-pcrimmins-2026-06-29-2.jpeg",640,640,false],"kava-thumb-justify-2":["https:\/\/whyy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/first-bank-pcrimmins-2026-06-29-2.jpeg",1280,640,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"#RiseCelestialStudios","author_link":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/author\/ralph-c\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Philadelphia Viral News<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"After decades of being closed to the public, the bank that Hamilton built reopens in Philadelphia\u2019s Old City this Wednesday. 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