Tag Archives: wall street

Trinity Church

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Only one block away from the NYSE Building on Wall Street, there is another historical building that seems to be out of place with the tall buildings around. The Trinity Church, located at the corner of Wall Street and Broadway, was founded in 1697. The current building is the third building built on the same place in 1846. The architect of the building was Richard Upjohn, who was one of the co-founders of the American Institute of Architects.

The Trinity Church is one of the Episcopal churches in New York City. The church also has a chapel few blocks away from the main church building called the St. Paul’s Chapel. Opened in 1766, the St. Paul’s Chapel is the oldest surviving church building in Manhattan. George Washington worshipped at this chapel after his inauguration as the first President of the United States. In 2001, it became known as ‘The Little Chapel That Stood’ as it remained standing after the nearby World Trade Center twin towers collapsed during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

I’ve passed both the Trinity Church and the St. Paul’s Chapel when I did a walking tour around the Financial District. On one visit to the Trinity Church, I ended up not going in to see the church interior because there was a service going on. I did visit the churchyard next to the church. It was a nice oasis in the middle of the Financial District to retreat for a moment from the hustle and bustle of the city. One of the people buried there was Alexander Hamilton, the first United States Secretary of Treasury (his portrait appears on the US $10 bill).

The photo below was taken during my visit to the Trinity Churchyard. I noticed this cool reflection of the churchyard on the church’s door glass pane — an interesting perspective to see churchyard with the big office building next to it.

Trinity Church

Wall Street

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Not far from the Battery Park in New York City where you can board the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, you can find the center of American financial industry, the New York Financial District with its famous street, Wall Street. On 11 Wall Street you can find the New York Stock Exchange building. The NYSE is the world’s largest stock exchange by market capitalization. Inside the NYSE building is the trading floor where the day-to-day business of the stock market is being conducted. Since the September 11 attacks, the trading floor is closed to public. Today if you want see the action inside in person, you can follow one of these suggestions on eHow: go on educational program or visit as part of a college class, apply for an internship at the NYSE, get a trading license and become an actual stock trader, or start a company and take it public.

I’ve only visited the NYSE as part of a walking tour in the area outside. Just right across the street from the NYSE building, there is another building that is also historically significant, the Federal Hall. The Federal Hall was the site where George Washington was sworn in as the first President of the United States, and the building was also home of the first Congress, the first Supreme Court, and the first Executive Branches. It’s worth the visit especially given its significance in the birth of the United States of America as a country.

The photo below was taken in front of the NYSE building. It’s the pediment part of the NYSE building facade, designed by John Quincy Adams Ward. Entitled “Integrity Protecting the Works of Man,” it depicts the 22-foot figure of Integrity in the center, with Agriculture and Mining to her left and Science, Industry and Invention on her right, representing the sources of American prosperity. The waves on either extreme of the pediment symbolize the ocean-to-ocean influence of the Exchange.

NYSE Building