Fulton Street, Manhattan by Joshua Beals

Fulton Street and surroundings. Fragment of the Panorama of Lower Manhattan by Joshua Beals, the part from Trinity Church, then the tallest structure in New York City, to the Evening Post Building on Broadway, corner of Fulton Street (on the right). Photograph taken in January of 1876 from the east tower of the Brooklyn Bridge over East River. Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Since the 19th century or before, Fulton Street is a busy street. It is located in Lower Manhattan, a few blocks north of Wall Street. It runs west-east from West Street, at the Hudson River waterfront, to South Street. The street itself was originally broken up into two parts, divided at Broadway. Before 1816, the eastern half was Fair Street and the western half was Partition Street, then both streets were named Fulton, in honor of Robert Fulton (1765-1815), a US engineer who became famous for his contribution to the development of commercial steamboats. East River ferries connected this street to Fulton Street in Brooklyn. The old open-air Fulton Fish Market, established about 1822 (closed in 2005), was located nearby at the South Street Seaport.

The United States Hotel (former Holt's Hotel) was one of the largest hotel in the country. The photo also shows some of the early skyscrapers built on Broadway: old Equitable Life Building (1870), old Mutual Life Building (1872), Evening Post Building (1875) and Western Union Telegraph Building (1875), then the tallest building in the City, although shorter than the Trinity Church spire.