13. Pockmarked History

The Wall Street exterior of the former J. P. Morgan Bank is covered in small cuts, traces of a terrible terrorist attack that occurred on Wall Street on September 16, 1920. That day, as the streets were filling with office workers taking their lunch breaks, an unidentified man parked a horse and carriage near the corner, about 100 feet east of Broad Street. As the Trinity Church bells rang at noon, the man dropped the reins and fled, never to be seen again. One minute later, 100 pounds of dynamite exploded inside the wagon, blasting back everything in its sphere while iron slugs shot through the air, creating a horrific scene of carnage. Thirty-eight people were killed and more than four hundred were injured in the attack, many while sitting inside at their desks.

Morgan famously refused to repair his bank building, preferring to leave the pockmarks on its side in a sign of defiance. With a little morbid imagination and some amateur sleuthing, it’s still possible to trace the trajectory of the explosion along the wall to the very spot where the poor horse and wagon stood. The culprits, rumored to be Italian anarchists, were never caught. (23 Wall Street)