RTFA: http://www.whitehouse.gov/pennproject/photoessay2/12.html

Existing condition view from the south sidewalk looking north towards Riggs Bank at 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

This is a neat sequence of photos, taken by a person who is standing half-way between the old Riggs Bank and the White House. The photos are a record of the construction that was taking place on the sidewalk between the two buildings.

RTFA: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7028503….

A Chilean judge has ordered the arrest of five children and the widow of former military ruler Augusto Pinochet on charges of embezzlement.

The warrants were among 23 issued as part of a corruption investigation into state funds held in US bank accounts.

Gen Pinochet, who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, died in December 2006 before he could stand trial on charges of corruption and human rights abuses.

That lovable South American fascist dictator, who is already dead, is still being hounded, karmically, through his living relatives. Even though his assets were frozen circa 2000, it seems Pinochet and his family still had access to millions of dollars, which were being laundered through (wait for it) Riggs Bank.

As you might have inferred from the stream of posts currently on RTFA (Riggs’ Pinochet guilty plea, Riggs sight-seeing, and Riggs ten dollar bill), this bank has a long and colorful history. Yet, the bank collapsed anyway, and this is rather surprising. You see, Riggs was such an important bank in Washington DC that it financed the Mexican-American war and the Alaska purchase.

Weird. It probably doesn’t mean anything, except that Pinochet’s family is currently being arrested for the money that came from accounts held at Riggs Bank.

The “old ten dollar bill” featured an engraving of the US Treasury on the reverse side, but lurking in the distance was a second bank named Riggs.

Riggs Bank has an astonishingly rich history, and at various times, has significantly influenced the history of the United States. To list a few stories involving Riggs:

1. Riggs financed the purchase of Alaska
2. Riggs hid millions of dollars for Pinochet, the exiled Chilean dictator, and his family (which resulted in the largest banking fine in history, and precipitated the collapse of Riggs Bank)
3. Riggs has held a bank account for most presidents since the Civil War

Although Riggs is now defunct, its old building is still standing in Washington DC, at 1503 Pennsylvania Ave. The engraving can be compared to the map below, where the US Department of Treasury is the large building just south of Riggs.

In case you wanted to know where 1503 Pennsylvania Ave was, it’s actually quite close to 1600 Pennsylvania, also known as the White House. No doubt, its proximity to the seat of government is related to the bank’s intimate involvement in US affairs.

[EDIT: 2007-12-12, 2008-03-18, 2008-05-14]

So you know, Riggs Bank disappeared several years ago.

Here is some background information on Riggs:

Pennsylvania Avenue Project Photos

Riggs Is Set to Plead Guilty to Crime (WSJ) Jan 26, 2005

Former Riggs Bank located next door to White House

Arrest order for Pinochet family

This article has been reorganized for clarity.

[/EDIT]

RTFA: http://library.thinkquest.org/2813/white/east.html

Riggs National Bank
1503 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
The Riggs Bank Building, completed in 1901, has been one of the city’s most prestigious financial institutions. Riggs has gained a symbolic status as the bank of official Washington, due to its proximity to the White House and the Treasury Department. Most presidents have even maintained an account or two here.

The bank lent $500,000 to army contractors in the first year alone of the Civil War. So powerful was the firm that the Riggs president even kept a desk in the main Treasury Building. Later banking reform under the Wilson Administration forced the company to state in its own building across the street.

Riggs Bank and its neighbor the American Security Site, stand at a site previously occupied by two buildings: the W.W. Corcoran Office Building, and the Branch Bank of the United States. Riggs Bank made its earlier home at the Branch Bank Building. It was here that President Lincoln deposited his pay during the Civil War. Later tenants of the buildings included the Chicago Times-Herald and the Chicago Evening Post. The buildings were torn down in the early 1900s and replaced with their current tenants.

Interesting sight-seeing, next time you’re in DC.