The arrondissement contains the former Paris Bourse (stock exchange) and several banking headquarters, as well as a textile district, known as the Sentier, and the Opéra-Comique's theatre, the Salle Favart.

The 2nd arrondissement is the home of Grand Rex, the largest movie theater in Paris.

A few entrepreneurs copied the success of the Passage des Panoramas and its well-lit, dry, and paved pedestrian passageways.

The 2nd arrondissement reached its peak of settlement in the years before 1861, although it has only existed in its current shape since the re-organization of Paris in 1860.

[8] Collège César Franck is the sole state-operated high school in the arrondissement.

[9] École Élémentaire Privée Saint-Sauveur is the sole private primary school institution in the second arrondissement.