History
The earliest incarnation of Riggs Bank was formed in 1836 when William Wilson Corcoran opened a small brokerage house. In 1840, Corcoran and George Washington Riggs, the son of a neighbor, formed "Corcoran & Riggs", which offered checking and depositing services. The bank got a major boost in 1844, when the U.S. government assigned Corcoran & Riggs to be the only federal depository in Washington. Corcoran & Riggs financed Samuel Morse's invention of the telegraph in 1845, one of several notable backings in its history. The bank also lent $16 million to the U.S. government to pay for the Mexican-American War in 1847 and in 1868, provided $7.2 million in gold towards the purchase of Alaska. Other notable financing included the Robert Peary’s first expedition to the North Pole and the expansion of the Capitol Building in the 1860s.
In 1854 Corcoran retired and George Washington Riggs re-assumed leadership, resulting in the bank changing its name to "Riggs & Co." After accepting a government charter, "Riggs National Bank" was born in 1896. By 1900, Riggs was twice as large as any other bank in the capital. In 1909, Riggs' president formally presented to the U.S. Congress a plan for economic relief. Many financial reforms were implemented as a result of this plan, including the establishment of the Federal Reserve in 1913.
Throughout the early 20th century, the bank continued to flourish. During World War I, Riggs National Bank participated in a high profile Liberty Loan Drive. After the War in the 1920s, the bank established a new savings deposit system as a result of the large deposit boom during the previous decade. Throughout the Great Depression, Riggs Director, Robert V. Fleming, also acted as adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. While all of these things were occurring, the bank was also strategically expanding its clientele by opening branches in different areas of Washington, D.C.
Beginning in the early 20th century, the bank embarked on a successful project to become known as the bank of embassies and diplomats, and by 1950 most embassies in Washington were customers. Many branches thereafter opened within embassies in Washington D.C. and London.
In 2002, Joseph L. Allbritton, the Chairman of the Board, was inducted into the Washington Business Hall of Fame.
Through its history Riggs Bank served many notable personalities. Twenty-three U.S. Presidents or their families banked at Riggs, including Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Richard Nixon. Accounts were also held by Senators Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun and Daniel Webster, Confederate president Jefferson Davis, American Red Cross founder Clara Barton, suffragist Susan B. Anthony, and generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Douglas MacArthur.
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