The First Bank of the United States was established in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, while the city served as the national capital, from 1790 to 1800. In the eighteenth century, Philadelphia was one of the largest cities in the English-speaking world. The bank began operations in Carpenters' Hall in 1791, some 200 feet from its permanent home.

Design of the bank building is credited to Samuel Blodgett, Superintendent of Buildings for the new capital in Washington, DC., although it has also been attributed to James Hoban. It was completed in 1795.

The First Bank of the United States has received various designations as a historic building. It was included in Independence National Historical Park when the park was formed in 1956. The building's architecture was studied by the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1958. With the rest of Independence National Historical Park, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966, and the bank was then declared a National Historic Landmark on May 4, 1987. It is described in the landmark designation as an early masterpiece of monumental Classical Revival design.

Until about 2000, the building housed offices for Independence National Historical Park. A proposal to have it house the collection of the Philadelphia Civil War Museum was abandoned when funding from the state of Pennsylvania was not forthcoming. Future plans are for it to house the National Park Service archaeology lab, currently across the street in the old Visitor Center.

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The ghost of Alexander Hamilton, the father of the American National Banking System, is said to haunt this bank in Old City. Very few will have experienced his haunting - the First Bank has been closed for 30 years. Still, it was just awarded an $8 million state grant to help refurbish and reopen the 250-year-old bank. No word yet on whether the ghosts will stick around, post-opening.