Wall Street’s Unsolved Bombing (1920)
Wall Street’s Unsolved Bombing (1920)
A bomb exploded on Wall Street at lunchtime on 16 September 1920. The attack killed dozens of people, and no one was convicted.
The story behind the scene
A horse drawn wagon stopped outside the US Assay Office, across from the J. P. Morgan building. Its load exploded shortly afterwards, killing more than thirty people immediately and injuring many others.
The street was cleared overnight and business resumed the next morning. The rapid cleanup also removed evidence investigators might have used.
Anarchists were suspected, and investigators pursued numerous leads. The case remained unresolved. The FBI’s account still treats the identity of those responsible as unproved.
What you’re seeing
The Bain News Service photograph records the aftermath, with debris, damaged vehicles and people in the street. The modern comparison returns to the financial district in daily use, without the wreckage that fills the earlier view.
Why this photo matters
The photograph records the damage of a specific attack, including the disruption to people working nearby. The surviving streetscape helps locate it without turning an unresolved crime into a story with a certain culprit.
Historical photograph: Bain News Service, 1920, Library of Congress, 2014711361. Modern photograph: Devyn Tapia.
Sources: FBI historical account