Scars In Limestone: Finding Traces of the 1920 Wall Street Bombing

As I was scouting around Wall Street this past weekend, I noticed a number of tourists taking pictures of the usual sights: the New York Stock Exchange, Federal Hall…

However, no one seemed to be paying any attention to one of the more interesting historical remnants, found at 23 Wall Street.

Swing around to the north side of the building and look closely…

…and you’ll see that the facade is riddled with holes…

…ranging from pencil-sized nicks to fist-sized gashes:

At first glance, it all might seem rather unremarkable, perhaps nothing more than the typical aging of a 102-year-old building. But in fact, this is the only evidence that remains…

…of one of the most infamous days in American history.

At noon on September 16, 1920, a horse-drawn carriage pulled up beside 23 Wall Street, the headquarters of J.P. Morgan. One minute later, a timer detonated the one hundred pounds of dynamite hidden within, causing a massive explosion that literally rocked Wall Street for blocks in all directions.

Thirty-eight people were killed (mostly clerks and stenographers) and four hundred injured, in part due to the 500 pounds of cast-iron weights that had been mixed in with the explosives. Below, the side of 23 Wall Street after the explosion…

…and today:

Across the street, 30 Wall Street took some significant damage as well…

…though the facade was later fully restored:

In the aftermath, no one took credit for the terrorist attack, though damning political fliers were located in an area mailbox signed by the “American Anarchist Fighters.” Despite an investigation spanning three years, the perpetrators were never found. It’s now believed that the Galleanists, a group of Italian anarchists, were responsible.

Ultimately, J. P. Morgan decided not to repair the damage, leaving it as a symbolic gesture of strength overcoming destruction.

The devastation was quickly cleaned up overnight, and the New York City stock exchange opened like normal the next day. Meanwhile, thousands attended a previously-planned Constitution Day rally to stand in solidarity. It would be the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States until the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.

Nearly one hundred years later, all that remains of the event are a few scars in limestone, an obscene tragedy reduced to an historical curio.

As they all are eventually, I suppose.

-SCOUT