Royal Exchange, New York City

The Royal Exchange in the City of New York. Undated illustration from the Duer's Old Yorker collection, New York Public Library (title: The first Merchant's Exchange. Erected 1752, Taken down, 1799), based on an older engraving. Continue below...

The Royal Exchange building was known as "the Exchange" by the New York residents. The original structure dates back to 1675. An inset from Henry Popple's 1727 map, shows a pyramidal roof supported by five columns. The structure was referred to as "the Exchange". It was a covered marketplace located near the foot of Broad Street (see the James Lyne plan).

The above Royal Exchange was erected in 1752 on Broad Street, near the waterfront. It was inspired by similar buildings found in England and Europe at the time. The Chamber of Commerce met in the building's second-floor from 1770 until the Revolutionary War. In 1785, the New York State Legislature began meeting in the building. In 1789, the federal court for the District of New York sat in the building. The U.S. Supreme Court held its inaugural session in the building in 1790. On September 10, 1790, the Common Council assigned to the Society of Tammany a room in the Exchange. It continued to be the home of the Society until 1798. The Royal Exchange building was demolished in 1799.

The Fraunces Tavern, a historic building, still standing, was on Dock Street, near the Exchange. The Merchants' Exchange on Wall Street opened in 1827.