Wall Street tends to be a popular topic in the news. ‘Wall Street’ tends to be used as a general way to refer to the economy. People tend to forget that Wall Street is an actual road in New York City, one with a rather long and somewhat sketchy history.
Wall Street started off as, surprisingly, a street with a wall. In the early colonial days of the United States, the Dutch held “New Amsterdam”, or what is now New York City. Fearing an invasion by the English, a wall was constructed. It was 9 feet high and about 2,340 feet long. The road, if it had a name previously, was renamed “Waal Straat.”
From that humble and rather simple beginning, Wall Street has had a history full of twists and turns. A government-sponsored slave market stood on Wall Street in 1711. Just 20 years later, the first attempt at a public library was also on Wall Street.
From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows, Wall Street once was home to the Capitol building for the US government, suffered a devastating fire, and withstood multiple terrorist attacks.
Now it is considered the backbone of the US economy. That doesn’t mean its past is forgotten, nor should it be…
Check out the infographic below!
A Timeline of Wall Street!
What was the most surprising event of Wall Street History? Let us know in the comments below!
Did you know that just a few miles away in New Jersey, the first canned beer was produced? Over in Jersey City, NJ, the first canned beer was produced in 1933, not long after Prohibition ended! Check out the full history of the first canned beer here!
Love history? Check out the Secretly Historic Facebook page, where I am constantly posting about the past.