When J. Pierpont Morgan purchased the site at 23 Wall Street-perhaps the most highly coveted in the Wall Street area-it was assumed that he would commission a monolith to justify the price he paid, which at the time, was the highest price per square foot ever recorded for real estate. But, true to his own ways, he wanted only four stories, and the upper two recessed so as to be invisible from the street. The resulting design was understated, even austere, but a most extravagant use of space. There was no towering stack of offices with rental income to provide maintenance. There was only a large banking hall with a few offices; there was not even a nameplate on the door. Pierpont Morgan established J. P. Morgan & Co. in 1860 as the New York correspondent of J. S. Morgan & Co., the London merchant bank led by his father. When he succeeded to this business in 1890, he consolidated the firm's European and American interests. His son, Jack, inherited the financial empire in 1913 and led the firm through three tumultuous decades that spanned two world wars as well of periods of international economic prosperity and depressions. Establishing the roots of its long-standing role as financial advisor to national governments, Morgan extended a £10 million loan in 1870 to the besieged government of France during the Franco-Prussian War; the prospectus for the issue was transmitted from London to Paris by a fleet of carrier pigeons, the tissue-paper pages rolled into capsules. The firm also served as a financial representative for the French and British governments during the wars and provided major financing for reconstruction after both. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the firm played a critical role in creating enterprises that later became symbols of American industrial power, including General Electric Company, U. S. Steel Corporation, and American Telephone and Telegraph. J. P. Morgan's name also became inextricably linked with the railroad industry. In 1909 President Taft asked Morgan to head a group of banks to assist China in the construction of an overland railway. But it was in the United States, During a time of wild and cutthroat competition, that Morgan played a central role in the reorganization of most major railroads-in many cases, issuing groundbreaking 100-year bonds. In 1940, the firm incorporated, established its trust operation, and begin building its investment department. At first, its business consisted primarily of the pension fund of Carnegie Corporation and endowments of Phillips Exeter Academy, St. Paul's School, and Amherst College. Trust accounts soon followed from George Whitney and others, including the extensive estate of J. P. Morgan. The firm's first public stock offering was issued in 1942. In 1959, to boost its capital base and lending limits, the firm merged with the much bigger Guaranty Trust Company, an old New York institution, to form Morgan Guaranty Trust Company, the principal subsidiary of J. P. Morgan & Co. Incorporated. Read about J. P. Morgan & Co. .