7. Corn Exchange Bank, 33 Flatbush Avenue
The Corn Exchange Bank was founded in 1853 at 67 Pearl Street in Manhattan. The bank was an outgrowth of the old Corn Exchange, where merchants met and arranged cereal grain prices with farmers. Corn Exchange merged with many smaller banks in the late 1800s, which gave them offices across Brooklyn. The acquisitions enabled Corn Exchange to inaugurate the branch banking system in New York City in 1899. The Flatbush Avenue branch pictured opened on May 1, 1907.
In 1954, Corn Exchange merged with Chemical Bank to form Chemical Corn Exchange Bank. When Chemical merged with New York Trust in 1959, the words “Corn Exchange” were dropped. Chase Manhattan merged with Chemical in 1995.
