Today, the street runs through New York's Financial District and is walled with art deco-inspired skyscrapers and prominent buildings of the Gilded Age. But back in 1653, the Dutch of New Amsterdam, led by Peter Stuyvesant, built a 12-foot tall wall along the lines of present-day Wall Street to defend their community from attacks by Native American tribes. The street was laid out alongside the stockade in 1685. Although the wall was dismantled in 1699, the street and its name remain.
Take time to look up and around as you zip through streams of business people and visitors crowding the sidewalks. Stop by Federal Hall at 26 Wall Street, where George Washington was inaugurated and the Bill of Rights was passed in 1789. This pillared piece of neoclassical architecture currently serves as a museum commemorating its national historic significance. Catch a glimpse of 14 Wall Street, where J.P. Morgan once owned an apartment, and whose 37 floors were completed in 1912. Still higher rises 40 Wall Street, a 70-story giant presently known as the Trump Building, completed just a year later. "The Corner" office building at 23 Wall Street was the site of a 1920 bombing that injured 400 and killed 38. Look closely and you can still see damage to the limestone façade.
NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX, NYMEX, NYBOT, and many of the other acronyms you see cluttering the business section of any newspaper are headquartered here on Wall Street, as well. Whether you associate Wall Street with American prosperity and capitalist success or corporate greed and corruption, this centuries-old stretch of pavement remains the historical flagship of one of the largest business districts in the country.
Attraction Information
- Location:
- Lower Manhattan, runs from Broadway to South Street
- Subway Stop:
- 2, 3, 4, 5 trains to the Wall Street Station
- N, R trains to the Rector Street Station
