Vintage Images of Wall Street

Wall Street is narrow and short, but historically charming and busy. It extends from Broadway to the East River, in Manhattan. The name comes from an old wall built by Dutch settlers, in 1653, to protect New Amsterdam (later New York) from invasions. The Dutch called the street Het Cingel ("Single" in the Miller Plan, 1695). It was officially renamed Wall Street in 1686 and the physical wall was removed in the 1690s, allowing the city to grow northwards.

The New York's second City Hall was built, from 1699 to 1703, at the present site of the Federal Hall National Memorial (26 Wall Street). George Washington was inaugurated here, On April 30, 1789, as the first President of the United States of America. New York City was then the national capital.

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The New York Stock Exchange was founded in 1792 and the New York Stock & Exchange Board was formally created in 1817. The present neoclassic building was completed in 1903.

In 1835, many buildings in Wall Street were destroyed by the Great Fire, including the old Merchants' Exchange building and the First Presbyterian Church.

The Merchants' Exchange Company was incorporated in 1823 and its original building on Wall Street was completed in 1827. After its destruction in 1835, a new larger building began to be constructed in 1836. The new Merchants' Exchange building, "The Rotunda", was opened on November 17, 1841, and the building was completed in 1842.

In September 1873, the Great Financial Panic crowded Wall Street. Further panics hit Wall Street in August 1890, May 1893, October 1907 and the biggest one in October 1929. Overhead wires and cables were buried about 1889 and asphalt pavement was laid down in 1890.

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