Alexander Hamilton’s First National Bank Revolutionized the U.S. Economy. After Sitting Shuttered for Years, the Philadelphia Landmark Reopened as a Museum

A controversial idea right after the American Revolution, the First Bank of the United States proved prescient. Visitors can now check out its historic home after a $43 million makeover

Michele Debczak | Correspondent

July 1, 2026 5:30 p.m.

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A Greek Revival building in Philadelphia stands as the physical embodiment of Alexander Hamilton’s bold experiment: a national bank run by the government. The concept was controversial when it was first proposed following the Revolutionary War. Centuries later, the First Bank of the United States has been transformed into a museum dedicated to the country’s economic history just in time for America’s 250th anniversary.

A ribbon cutting commemorated the building’s reopening on July 1. When it was last open to the public around 20 years ago, it was in a much sorrier state, with “dark and dingy” interiors and outdated utilities, Frank Kummer reports for the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Independence Historical Trust and Independence National Historical Park raised funds to restore the building starting around 2017, securing $43 million from private donors and the federal government, Michaela Althouse reports for PhillyVoice.

Much of that money went to modernizing the two-century-old building, as workers had to contend with a leaky roof, degrading brick and marble masonry and asbestos. In addition to the behind-the-scenes updates, the renovation team also restored the ornate interior. The building—with its marble columns and barrel-vaulted rotunda—is an example of American neoclassical architecture.

“This national historic landmark is now pristine,” Jonathan Burton, director of development for the Independence Historical Trust, tells the Inquirer. “It’s completely updated, with all new mechanical systems. It’s absolutely gorgeous.”

On December 15, 1790, Hamilton submitted a proposal to Congress outlining his idea for a unified national bank that would print its own currency and issue credit to the government and private entities. It offered an innovative solution to the country’s national debt problem, but critics like Thomas Jefferson argued it was unconstitutional and an overreach of the federal government’s power.

“George Washington had a goal for Alexander Hamilton to bring the country back out away from the economic struggles that they had during the 1780s—mostly stemming from the American Revolutionary War,” park ranger Suzanne Moore tells Julia Binswanger of BillyPenn at WHYY. “Hamilton’s like, ‘OK, I have that idea,’ I’m going to take it one step further and go beyond and make sure we have an economic future for this nation as well.”

Hamilton got his way, and the First Bank of the United States was established in Philadelphia in 1791 with a charter for 20 years. The building known today as the bank’s historic home opened several years later, per the National Park Service, which acquired it in 1955.

“For more than two centuries, the First Bank building has stood as a symbol of the nation’s transition from revolution to republic,” Steven Sims, superintendent of Independence National Historical Park, says in a statement. “The building connects the victory of the Revolution to the difficult work of creating a functioning government, economy, and civic identity in the years that followed.”

This latest iteration of the national landmark will eventually host a permanent exhibition telling the story of Hamilton’s financial mission. For now, there are two temporary exhibits displaying artifacts from the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and the Bicentennial, and American diplomacy. An ornate mantel clock from the U.S. embassy in Paris circa 1725, a 1779 portrait of George Washington, and two chairs from the exposition's Chinese Pavilion at the exposition are some of the items museum guests can expect to see when they visit following the grand reopening.

Michele Debczak | Read More

Michele Debczak is a writer and editor based in Brooklyn, New York. She appears in seasons four through six of History Channel’s “The Food That Built America,” and her work has been featured in Mental Floss, IndieWire, Eater and Vice.