Wall Street: scene of the first bank robbery ever

It happened way back in March 1831—and the theft wasn’t just the first bank heist in New York, but the very first in the country.

Details are sketchy, but the robbery took place on Wall Street, a financial hub since the 18th century.

An English immigrant named Edward Smith reportedly stole $245,000 from The City Bank of New York—an ancestor of today’s megabank Citibank—headquartered at 52 Wall Street.

Smith was quickly nabbed, tried, and sentenced to five years of hard labor at Sing Sing—which was only five years old at the time Smith became a inmate.

[Logo at right: a 19th century name of the original City Bank of New York, which eventually morphed into Citibank]

Tags: bankrobberies new york city, Citibank history, City Bank of New York, Financial history, first bank robbery, Wall Street heist, Wall Street history