The Second Bank of the United States was the second federally authorized bank in the US. It was chartered in February 1816, handled all fiscal transactions for the U.S. Government and eventually had 25 branch offices nationwide. The essential function of the Bank was to regulate public credit issued by private banks and to establish a sound and stable national currency.
In 1832, Andrew Jackson vetoed the bill re-chartering the Second Bank. He claimed the bank was "unauthorized by the Constitution, subversive to the rights of States, and dangerous to the liberties of the people." One of his main issues was the 2nd Bank's lack of funding for expansion into the unsettled Western territories. He also felt that the states should have the power to control the banking system. By 1836, all the funds in the 2nd Bank had been transferred to small state banks.
Designed by architect William Strickland and built between 1819 and 1824, the Second Bank is a fine example of Greek Revival architecture. Built from Pennsylvania blue marble, Strickland's inspiration was the Parthenon in Greece. After the demise of the Bank in 1836, the building changed hands and function, eventually becoming the U.S. Customs House. It remained the Customs House for almost 100 years until the "new" Customs House opened at 2nd & Chestnut St in 1935. In 1939, the Treasury Department sold the building to the National Park Service, who rented it to the Carl Schurz Foundation. The foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the cultural heritage of German-Americans, stayed until 1964. Little remains of the building's original interior design except for the barrel vaulted ceiling, the marble columns in the main banking room, and the side flue fireplaces.
The building, now closed for renovations, houses the Second Bank of the United States Portrait Gallery. More than 100 portraits by painter Charles Willson Peale form the core of the collection of late 18th- and early 19th-century sculptures and portraits. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987.
1840's litho 1859 view
1939 view 1939, rear of bldg. 1966