Burglar Proof Vault
The restored decorative case iron wall in
the office of the Treasurer
of the United States is the exterior wall
of one of four burglar proof vaults built in
the northwest corner of the Treasury Building
in 1864. The vaults were designed and
patented by Isaiah Rogers (1800-1869), who
was from 1863
through 1865. He was also Engineer in Charge,
Bureau of Construction from 1861 through
1863.
In August 1985 the offices
and three connecting vaults of the Securities
Transactions Branch of the Bureau
of the Public Debt were being renovated
for the Treasurer
of the United States. Rogers' 1864 vault,
which had been hidden from view for nearly
eighty years, was discovered sandwiched
between two later vault extensions.
A metals conservator and an ironworker
restored the exterior decorative cast iron
wall of the vault to its original 1864
appearance. They preserved a cross section of
the original vault lining on the inner office
wall. The present day gate, a lattice door
used to secure the vault during working
hours, dates from a 1908 extension. The label
above the door replicates one which was put
on the vault at the time of its
completion.
The design of the vault originated in 1862
when Rogers, the Engineer in Charge of the
Treasury's , was called upon to
assess the security of the various types of
burglar proof vaults commercially available.
This was a pressing concern, for secure
vaults were needed not only in the Treasury
Building itself, still under construction,
but also in federal custom houses and post
offices being built by the Treasury
Department across the land. Judging the
existing vaults insecure against burglars,
Rogers devised a unique burglar proof vault
lining. This lining consisted of interposing
two layers of cast iron balls between the
traditional alternating plates of wrought
iron and hardened steel. The balls, held
loosely in specially formed cavities, were
designed to rotate freely upon contact with a
drill, or any other tool, thereby preventing
a burglar from penetrating the vault.
The design was first used for two vaults
built in the , now Federal Hall,
in 1862, by George R. Jackson, Burnet &
Co. of New York. The construction was highly
successful and Rogers received a patent for
the design in 1863. In 1864, Isaiah Rogers,
the , contracted
with George R. Jackson, Burnet & Co. to
build four vaults using his patent in the
. The same year similar vaults
were built by George R. Jackson, Burnet &
Co. in custom houses in Detroit, Cincinnati
and Chicago.
In the the four vaults were
built for the Treasurer
of the United States and the Comptroller
of the Currency. They were installed in
the northwest corner of the North Wing, which
was completed in 1864. The Office of the
Treasurer was located on the entrance story
and that of the Comptroller was on the floor
above. Each of these offices had two vaults
of Roger's patent for holding currency and
bonds. These two offices worked closely to
administer the newly developed National
Banking System, inaugurated in 1863 by Secretary
of the Treasury . The Comptroller
of the Currency was created the same year
to supervise the national banks and to issue
to the banks, from its vaults, the
circulating monetary notes. Government bonds
to secure the circulating notes were bought
by the national banks, received and recorded
by the Comptroller and deposited in the
Treasurer's vaults.
This vault initially served as a Cashier's
vault for the Treasurer
of the United States. When that office
was relocated in the newly opened
Cash Room in 1869, it became a Bond Vault
for the . An identical vault on
the floor above was used as a currency vault
for the Comptroller
of the Currency. That vault was removed
in 1947 to create office space.
As the National Bank System grew, so did
the amount of business conducted by the Comptroller
of the Currency and the Treasurer
of the United States, and it became
necessary to increase the available vault
space. In 1908 an extension was added to the
west end of the Treasurer's Bond Vault,
enclosing Rogers' decorative iron wall. A
larger extension was added to the east end of
the Treasurer's Bond Vault in 1933-1935.
Today money is not stored in the
and vaults are no longer used. This historic
vault wall stands as a tribute to the
Treasurer of the United States, who was the
original occupant of this office, and as a
reminder of the days when the nation's
currency passed through the Treasury's
vaults.
We wish
to thank the Office of the Curator for
providing this material and helping to
maintain it.
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