In 1811 the United States did not extend its charter to the First Bank of The United States. Local merchant Stephen Girard purchased the building and established the Bank of Stephen Girard, the country’s first private bank. After his death in 1831 a group of local merchants hoped to take advantage of Girard’s sterling reputation and used his name for their own bank. In 1952, Girard Trust Company acquired The Corn Exchange Bank’s Philadelphia branch, and renamed itself to Girard Trust Corn Exchange bank. (Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia)