American Express Building
65 Broadway | also 47 Trinity Place | Financial District | built 1917
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1874
American Express moves its headquarters into two rented brownstones on the site
In 1874 American Express left the wholesale shipping district and rented space in two five-story brownstone commercial buildings, Nos. 63 and 65 Broadway, owned by the Harmony family. The company bought the buildings and the lot in 1903. This entry concerns those earlier buildings, which the present tower later replaced.
- 1914
American Express files plans for a 32-story headquarters, then drops them
New company president George Chadbourne Taylor decided the old brownstones were inadequate, and in March 1914 the architects Renwick, Aspinwall & Tucker filed for a 32-story concrete-and-steel tower. It was meant to consolidate operations then spread across four buildings. The plan was abandoned, probably because of the war in Europe, then taken up again two years later in a scaled-down version estimated to cost $1 million.
- 1917
Renwick, Aspinwall & Tucker complete a Neoclassical headquarters for American Express
J. Lawrence Aspinwall of Renwick, Aspinwall & Tucker designed the 21-story Neoclassical tower, whose H-shaped plan put light courts between its wings. American Express had been on the site since 1874 and bought the old buildings there in the early 1900s. The new headquarters was essentially complete in April 1917.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1918
The government merges the express companies, and American Express keeps 40 percent of the new agency
In July 1918 the federal government ended the private domestic express business by creating the government-controlled American Railway Express Co. American Express handed over its express equipment and facilities but kept about 40 percent of the new company's stock, nearly $12 million. George C. Taylor, the president of American Express, was also named the first president of American Railway Express and held that post until his death in 1923.
- 1930
American Express plans a banking branch on the ground floor
In February 1930, American Express's banking division announced it would expand into the first floor of 65 Broadway, with a branch expected to hold $15 million in deposits. The company had earlier survived the First World War consolidation of express-mail firms into the Railway Express Agency, keeping 40 percent of that agency's stock.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1940
The investment bankers J. & W. Seligman take the top three floors
In 1940 the executive offices of J. & W. Seligman & Co. moved into the uppermost three floors of the building, where they stayed until 1974. The firm had been founded in 1864 by Joseph Seligman and his brothers, a German-Jewish family sometimes called the American Rothschilds. Moody's Investors Service and National Investors Corp. were also long-term tenants.
- 1975
American Express leaves for Water Street but keeps its travel services at 65 Broadway
In 1975 American Express relocated its headquarters to a newly built complex, American Express Plaza, at Water Street and Coenties Slip. A decade later it moved again, to 3 World Financial Center. The Landmarks report notes that the company still kept its travel services at 65 Broadway.
- 1978
The American Bureau of Shipping adds a bronze eagle clutching an anchor to the building
In June 1977 the American Bureau of Shipping paid $2.5 million for the building and renovated it. In December 1978 the bureau had a large bronze sculpture of its emblem, an eagle holding an anchor, designed by Greg Wyatt, put up on the building. It moved in that month and occupied the 12th through 21st floors, renting out the lower ones.
“…in December 1978 installed a large bronze sculpture of its insignia, an eagle grasping an anchor, designed by Greg Wyatt, atop the building…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1995
The Landmarks Preservation Commission designates 65 Broadway
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated 65 Broadway a city landmark on December 12, 1995. American Express had left the building in 1974, and in 2007 it became a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- 65 BroadwayWikipedia
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