the Chamber of Commerce, the seats were arranged along the walls. At the center of one wall, a raised platform had space for the President's chair and desk, as well as the desks of other officials. Mahogany desks for the International Commercial Bank of China were installed in 1991 after the building was renovated. History The Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York was founded in 1768 as the first organization of its type in North America. After the Chamber was granted a formal charter by King George III of Great Britain in 1770, it held an inaugural meeting at the Fraunces Tavern with twenty merchants in attendance. When the Real Estate Exchange Building at 65 Liberty Street was completed in 1884, the Chamber of Commerce had moved there. This structure was an iron-fronted building with six stories. However, before the Chamber of Commerce Building at 65 Liberty Street was built, the Chamber had never been housed in a building specifically constructed for use as its headquarters. Planning and construction By the end of the 19th century, the Chamber of Commerce was looking to construct a building with enough space for offices and an assembly room. According to Architectural Record magazine, the Chamber of Commerce wished for its assembly hall to be "spacious and imposing" and for the exterior to be "large enough to avoid insignificance". At the time, the Chamber of Commerce was housed in a "small apartment". While the Chamber's monthly meetings were lightly attended, the annual luncheons drew hundreds of members, even though the previous quarters could fit only fifty people. A fund for a new building for the Chamber of Commerce was established early in 1897. By that June, it had raised $450,000 out of a projected $1 million. By April 1900, the entire $1 million amount had been raised. Wealthy members of the Chamber ultimately raised a collective $1.5 million. Subscribers to the fund included Andrew Carnegie, J. P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt III, William Collins Whitney, and the Guggenheim family. The Chamber's president Morris K. Jesup bought the Real Estate Exchange Building in January 1901 from the Central Realty, Bond, and Trust Company, at a cost of $700,000. James B. Baker had been selected as the architect by that May. The cornerstone of the building was laid on November 8, 1901, with ceremonies attended by over a hundred members of