#406 How Wall Street Got Its Name

The Bowery Boys: New York City History

Wall Street, today a canyon of tall buildings in New York's historic Financial District, is not only one of the most famous streets in the United States, it's also a stand-in for the entire American financial system.

One of the first facts you learn as a student of New York City history is that Wall Street is named for an actual wall that once stretched along this very spot during the days of the Dutch when New York was known as New Amsterdam.

The particulars of the story, however, are far more intriguing. Because the Dutch called the street alongside the wall something very different.

During the colonial era, the wall was torn down and turned into the center of New York life, complete with Trinity Church, City Hall and a shoreline market with a disturbing connection to one New York's financial livelihoods -- slavery.

So how did this street become so associated with American finance? The story involves Alexander Hamilton, a busy coffee house and a very important tree.

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More Bowery Boys episodes related to this one:

George Washington's New York Inauguration
Life In New Amsterdam
Land of the Lenape
Tearing Down King George: The Revolutionary Summer of 1776
Trinity Church: Anchor of Wall Street