Things to do / Travel Guide
Address:Wall Street between Broadway and South St.
New York, New York
Wall Street takes its name from the wall that constituted the original northern boundary of New Amsterdam, the Dutch colony that settled here in the 1600s and was one of the original European settlements in the New World. The wall was built in 1653 to fortify the settlement against attacks by Manhattan Indians, and the British Army. Though the wall was dismantled by the British in 1699 after conquering the Dutch colony, the name remained, and English traders and speculators would congregate under the buttonwood tree that stood at the base of the street. When the traders formalized their agreements in 1792, the New York Stock Exchange was born.
Today, you can visit the New York Stock Exchange, and watch the purest form of supply and demand at work as buyers and sellers meet and trade an average of 1.46 billion shares a day, valued at over $46.1 billion dollars. Or, you can check out Trinity Church, one of Wall Streets earliest relics, founded in 1697, with its tall spire being built in 1846. Here, you'll find the burial grounds of William Bradford, Albert Gallatin, Robert Fulton, and Alexander Hamilton, father of our nation's financial system.
Federal Hall stands at 26 Wall Street, and was once the site of New York City's original City Hall. This is where the first US Congress met, and where George Washington was inaugurated in 1789. This building was also one of the Original Sub-Treasury buildings of the Federal Reserve.
Walking tours are available for free on Wall Street Thursdays and Saturdays from Noon – 1:30, leaving from the steps of the Smithsonian, at the southern tip of Manhattan. A 15 minute tour of Trinity Church is also available Thursdays and Saturdays at noon, starting from the corner of Broadway and Wall Street. For the Federal Reserve walking tour you'll have to call ahead at least a week in advance, and make sure you show up early to pass through the extensive security procedures. This free tour takes you underground to the largest gold vault in the United States (More gold than Fort Knox!), takes one hour, and leaves Monday through Friday, at 9:30, 10:30, 11:30, 1:30, and 2:30.