Historic Banks and Financial Institutions of DC

Financial institutions played an important role in the history of Washington, DC. Banks, building and loan associations, trust companies, and securities all worked in tandem to establish a sound economy in DC. While DC is known as the home of the federal government, its historical financial institutions are also important to the city’s history.

Prior to introducing the history of the financial institutions that called DC home, there are several different definitions that will be fleshed out here for later reference. Banks, which were the earliest form of financial institution and were established in the United States just after the Revolutionary War, came in many different configurations. The earliest banks were owned by investors and only had three responsibilities, ranging from issuing bills, to taking in deposits, and loaning money for interest. By the beginning of the 1800s, other institutions would be established, such as savings banks, which only took deposits and offered interest, and building and loan associations, which helped facilitate home ownership. Over the course of the development of DC, these simple institutions would become more complex in their operations. By the mid-19th century, trust companies, which dealt with long-term investments, were established.

From the beginning, these financial institutions – ranging from the historically-designated National Bank of Washington on 7th Street NW, to the Riggs National Bank across from the White House, and the Northeast Savings Bank on H Street NE – have shaped DC through their impact on local communities as well as their architectural significance, as these buildings were often designed and constructed with the highest standards of the time. These buildings symbolized stability and security to the general public.

In the 1840s, Riggs & Co., established in DC in 1840 by William W. Corcoran and George Washington Riggs, accomplished one of the first transnational transactions, selling stock internationally. One such instance was the negotiation of a government loan to finance the war with Mexico in 1846-48. Riggs & Co. went on to have other domestic ventures, such as financing the first telegraph line between Washington and Baltimore, as well as the Washington and Georgetown Railroad. Corcoran, a prominent figure in DC’s economic history, originally worked for the Washington Branch of the Second United States Bank. A high-profile banker, philanthropist, and patron of the arts, Corcoran’s friendships with those in the government, such as President James Buchanan extended the relationship between the financial world and the federal government. Early on, 15th Street NW near the Treasury Building became a center of finance.

Washington, DC’s historic Financial District, located around 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, encapsulates the evolution of financial institutions through the 19th and 20th centuries. Located near the U.S. Treasury Building, and including such notable buildings as the National Savings and Trust Company (1888), Riggs National Bank (1902), and American Security and Trust Company (1904), the historic district holds examples of Beaux Arts and 20th century Neo-Classical Revival style buildings, which were built to impress as well as embody the strength and power of the financial institutions within them.

The onset of the Civil War (1861-65) brought about the National Bank Act (1863), which was passed, not only to help in financing the war, but also to promote a more stable use of currency. The second-half of the 19th century saw the creation of building and loan associations and trust companies, as well as the advancement of bank security through timed vault entries, and vault doors being made out of case-hardened steel. Three financial institutions still standing from this era are the National Bank of Washington (1889), the Washington Loan & Trust Company (1891), and the National Metropolitan Bank (1907). Economic booms and busts, particularly during the Gilded Age of the late 19th century and early 20th century, led to important changes in the financial industry, such as heightened regulation of banking following the Federal Reserve Act in 1914. Like other federal entities, the Federal Reserve Board Building is located in Washington.

The First World War (1914-19) saw the power of banks continue to grow as the American economy became globally important, The style of financial institution architecture would change in the 1920s and 1930s, shifting from the ornate Beaux-Arts and Romanesque Revival styles towards the streamlining of Art Deco and simplicity of Modernism. The 1920s also saw the growth of branch banking to reach communities and neighborhoods outside of downtown Washington, with Chevy Chase Savings Bank (1921) as an example of this.

Despite the expansion of banking throughout the District in the early 20th century, there were no laws protecting bank customers from discrimination. Financial institutions practiced and promoted discriminatory policies and tactics that blocked African Americans’ access to banking and financial services, such as mortgages. These practices also extended to the use of redlining – promoted by the federal government – and racially restrictive covenants in housing. There had only been one bank in Washington that served the African American community, the Capital Savings Bank, founded by and for the African-American population of DC in 1888, but it closed and left many in need of financial assistance until Industrial Savings Bank was established in 1913.

The Great Depression would see the closing of many banks, relegating large assets to a small number of banks. The Glass-Steagall Act, or the Banking Act of 1933, was designed to reform the banking system, and provide safer and more effective use of bank assets, and was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in June 1933. Following the Depression, more care would be taken when it came to bank employees, and this era would see a complete pause in new bank construction.

This tour illustrates the financial growth and development of Washington, DC, through the landmarked banks and financial institutions of the city, some of which have been repurposed for new uses.