 The Equitable Trust Co. was one of the units of the Chase National Bank organizations, one of the largest and most powerful banking institutions in the world at the time.The law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell was located in the predecessor building from around 1889 and moved out when it was demolished, but returned to the address into the newly completed building and stayed there until 1959.The architects were Trowbridge & Livingston, who also drew plans for the Bankers Trust Co., the New York Stock Exchange extension, Bank of America, and the Equitable Trust Building's adjacent J. P. Morgan & Company Building at 23 Wall Street in 1915.