1st Bank of New York

Its first offices were in the old Walton Mansion in New York City.

In 1787, it moved to a site on Hanover Square that the New York Cotton Exchange later moved into. The bank provided the United States government its first loan in 1789. The loan was orchestrated by Hamilton, then Secretary of the Treasury, and it paid the salaries of United States Congress members and President George Washington. The Bank of New York was the first company to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange when it first opened in 1792.

In 1796, the bank moved to a location at the corner of Wall Street and William Street, which would later become 48 Wall Street. The bank had a monopoly on banking services in the city until the Bank of the Manhattan Company was founded by Aaron Burr in 1799; the Bank of New York and Hamilton vigorously opposed its founding. During the 1800s, the bank was known for its conservative lending practices that allowed it to weather financial crises. It was involved in the funding of the Morris and Erie canals, and steamboat companies. The bank helped finance both the War of 1812 and the Union Army during the American Civil War. Following the Civil War, the bank loaned money to many major infrastructure projects, including utilities, railroads, and the New York City Subway.