National Register of Historic Places

Manhattan Company Building

New York, New York County, New York
Listed
June 15, 2000
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
00000577

About this property

40 Wall Street (also the Trump Building; formerly the Bank of Manhattan Trust Building and Manhattan Company Building) is a 927-foot-tall (283 m) neo-Gothic skyscraper on Wall Street between Nassau and William streets in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Erected in 1929–1930 as the headquarters of the Manhattan Company, the building was designed by H. Craig Severance with Yasuo Matsui and Shreve & Lamb. The building is a New York City designated landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP); it is also a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District, an NRHP district. The building is on an L-shaped site. While the lower section has a facade of limestone, the upper stories incorporate a buff-colored brick facade and contain numerous setbacks. The facade also includes spandrels between the windows on each story, which are recessed behind the vertical piers on the facade. At the top of the building is a pyramid with a spire at its pinnacle. Inside, the lower floors contained the Manhattan Company's double-height banking room, a board room, a trading floor, and two basements with vaults. The remaining stories were rented to tenants; there were private clubs on several floors, as well as an observation deck on the 69th and 70th floors. Plans for 40 Wall Street were revealed in April 1929, with the Manhattan Company as the primary tenant, and the structure was opened on May 26, 1930. 40 Wall Street and the Chrysler Building competed for the distinction of world's tallest building at the time of both buildings' construction; the Chrysler Building ultimately won that title. 40 Wall Street initially had low tenancy rates due to the Great Depression and was not fully occupied until 1944. Ownership of the building and the land underneath it, as well as the leasehold on the building, has changed several times throughout its history. Since 1982, the building has been owned by two German companies. The leasehold was held by interests on behalf of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the mid-1980s. A company controlled by developer and later U.S. president Donald Trump bought the lease in 1995.

Location

40 Wall St.
New York, New York County, New York
40.70694, -74.00967

Categories

ARCHITECTURECOMMERCE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Federal Hall National Memorial
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0 mi
Bank of New York Building
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0 mi
First National City Bank
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0.1 mi
Wallace Building
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0.1 mi
National City Bank
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0.1 mi

Questions about this property

When was Manhattan Company Building listed on the National Register?

Manhattan Company Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 15, 2000.

What type of historic resource is Manhattan Company Building?

Manhattan Company Building is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Manhattan Company Building?

The period of significance for Manhattan Company Building is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Manhattan Company Building?

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