Unfortunately, no information could be found about the history of the Merchants' Exchange other than that this building was erected for it. Wikipedia does have an article for the current Mercantile Exchange (
visit link) which was established in 1882...and was probably a successor to this exchange.
A plaque on this building reads:
"55 WALL STREET
55 WALL STREET WAS DESIGNED BY PROMINENT BOSTON ARCHITECT
ISAIAH ROGERS AND CONSTRUCTED BETWEEN 1836 AND 1842. THE
FACADE OF THE ORGINAL FOUR-STORY, GREEK REVIVAL STYLE
BUILDING FEATURED TWELVE MASSIVE IONIC COLUMNS, EACH A
SINGLE BLOCK OF QUINCY GRANITE. IN 1899, FIRST NATIONAL BANK,
WHICH SUBSEQUENTLY BECAME CITIBANK, COMMISSIONED
ARCHITECTS McKIM, MEAD AND WHITE TO REMODEL THE BUILDING
FOR USE AS THEIR HEADQUARTERS. THE ARCHITECTS ADDED FOUR
STORIES TO THE BUILDING AND SUPERIMPOSED A SECOND
COLONNADE OF CORINTHIAN COLUMNS ABOVE THE ORIGINAL
BANKING HALL FEATURING A SIXTY-FOOT-HIGH CENTRAL DOME AND
OFFICES AT EACH CORNER. SOLD IN THE MID-1980S, THE FORMER
BANK BUILDING BECAME THE REGENT WALL STREET HOTEL IN 1999.
AFTER THE TERRORIST ATTACK ON THE WORLD TRADE CENTER ON
SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, 55 WALL STREET SERVED AS A RELEIF CENTER
FOR WORKERS AND AREA RESIDENTS.
NEW YORK LANDMARKS PRESERVATION FOUNDATION
2002"
and Wikipedia (
visit link) adds:
"The National City Bank Building at 55 Wall Street between William and Hanover Streets in the Financial District of downtown Manhattan, New York City, was built in 1836-41 as the Merchants' Exchange, replacing the previous exchange, which had burned down in the Great Fire of New York in 1835. The new building was designed by Isaiah Rogers in the Greek Revival style. The United States Custom House moved into the building in 1862 – with the conversion of the building overseen by William A. Potter – and occupied it until 1907, when it moved to the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House at 1 Bowling Green.
After the Custom House left, James Stillman, president of National City Bank, arranged for his company to buy the building from the government to be their headquarters. Charles Follen McKim of McKim, Mead & White was engaged to enlarge the building, including removing the dome, adding four floors and a second colonnade and gutting the interior, the main floor of which McKim redesigned with William S. Richardson (1907-1910). The old main banking hall has been used as a ballroom and event space since 1998, and the remainder of the building is now condominium apartments.
55 Wall Street was Citibank's global headquarters from 1908 to 1961, when it moved to the newly completed 399 Park Avenue, one of the earlier moves by Wall Street commercial and investment banks from downtown to midtown Manhattan. Years after the headquarters move, 55 Wall Street continued as a full service retail branch (still carrying the moniker Branch # 001), as well as a substantial location for private banking operations. The building served as the headquarters for the law firm of Shearman & Sterling, lead counsel for Citibank and the Rockefeller family for decades. The building was sold by Citibank in 1990 to private investors for $69 million.[9]
Notable people who spent time at 55 Wall Street include President Chester A. Arthur, who worked as a customs collector in the 1870s, and writer Herman Melville worked as a customs inspector and wrote part of Moby Dick while working there."