Big Scores · STOP 10 · Downtown
Ponzi took in $9,582,000 in eight months from an office up the stairs here, by the Supreme Court's count.
In the summer of 1920 the line for Charles Ponzi's office ran up a dark stairway on School Street and back through Pi Alley. By the Supreme Court's count he took in $9,582,000 in eight months. The clerks ran out of drawers and filled wastebaskets with cash. The building is still on the corner, just below Old City Hall. Go stand where the line was.
This is stop 10 of Big Scores. Walk it - any two stops are free.
The plate
Collected on site
In June 1920 alone, American Heritage counts 7,824 people paying in $2.5 million; through July 26, 30,195 people. Ponzi handed out free coffee and doughnuts to the line.
More footnotes on the story card, in the app.
In these collections: Legends Busted, Crime Scenes
Near Government Center · Near State · Near Downtown Crossing · Near Park Street · Near Bowdoin · Near Haymarket
Sources (8)
- Cunningham v. Brown, 265 U.S. 1 (1924)Supreme Court of the United States (Taft, C.J.), via Justia · 1924-04-28
- Bubble, Bubble - No Toil, No TroubleAmerican Heritage (Donald H. Dunn) · 1975 (web)
- 27 School (Synergy Suite)Workbar · n.d. (read Oct 2026)
- Niles Building, BostonLost New England · 2014-10-11 (updated 2023-07-19)
- Hanover Trust Company (Boston, MA) - bank run episode 7923FinHist (compiles Chronicling America newspapers) · n.d.
- Ladies' Deposit (Boston, MA) - bank run episode 7934FinHist (compiles Chronicling America newspapers) · n.d.
- The Ladies' Deposit: The 19th-Century Ponzi Scheme by Women, for WomenMental Floss (Alana Mohamed) · 2018-05-14
- Sarah Howe (fraudster)Wikipedia (citing Henry A. Clapp, 'Sympathetic Banking', Atlantic Monthly, July 1881; George Robb, Ladies of the Ticker, 2017; Boston Globe Sept 28 1880) · n.d.