Wall Street

Background

On Google Maps, Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in New York City’s Financial District. But over the years, the term “Wall Street” has evolved to mean much more than that.

“Wall Street” became shorthand for all things finance after it cemented itself as the financial center of the US. The mythos of the district—and the high-level finance professionals working there (“Wall Streeters”)—has evolved into a cultural phenomenon, giving rise to a multitude of popular movies and books inspired by Wall Street’s energy.

Nomenclature

Historians are still debating how exactly Wall Street got its name.

In 1653, when Manhattan was a Dutch colony, settlers were worried about the possibility of the English invading. So they decided to build a roughly 9- to 12-foot-high, 2,300-foot-long wall around their settlement (see a Wall Street history timeline).

It wasn’t enough—by 1664, Dutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant surrendered what was then known as “New Amsterdam” to an English naval squadron. The English renamed the area “New York” after the Duke of York, who had organized the successful capture mission.

Historians believe that the English most likely named “Wall Street” after the wall the Dutch built to keep them out since the street runs down roughly the same path the wall did (see time-adjustable map).

But other historians argue that Wall Street could have been named after the Walloons (also known as “the Waal”), the French-speaking early Dutch settlers of Manhattan. The primary entrance to their settlement was often referred to as “Waal Straat,” after all.

History

Wall Street’s history as a financial center started with the establishment of two institutions: the New York Stock Exchange and New York City’s first official slave market.

In 1711, the New York City Common Council designated the corner of Wall Street and Pearl Street as the official location of the city’s slave market, where it operated until 1762. At the time, the slave trade and slave labor played a large role in the budding nation’s economy, making its location a defacto financial hub.

In 1792, 24 stockbrokers and merchants made the “Buttonwood Tree Agreement” that formed the basis of the NYSE. The NYSE has occupied a few different Wall Street locations since then—when it first started out, traders met both outside on the street and in coffee shops. But by 1903, the modern NYSE building had officially opened for business on the corner of Broad Street and Wall Street (more on the NYSE’s history).

Proximity to that trading activity drew banks to establish headquarters on Wall Street. JP Morgan & Company, Irving Trust, and the Bank of New York were all headquartered on Wall Street in the early 20th century.

Wall Street Today

Some financial institutions, such as the NYSE, are still located on Wall Street. But today, you’re more likely to find a luxury gym or apartment complex on those eight blocks than a major bank’s headquarters.

As technology evolved, banks didn’t have as much of a need for close physical proximity to financial centers. But the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks hitting the Financial District may have accelerated the Wall Street exodus. Top banks such as JP Morgan moved their headquarters away from Wall Street itself in 2001 and the years that followed.