New Yorke : 1695 - Public domain vintage map

Wall Street in Lower Manhattan is one of the most famous streets in the world, known for its role in the international financial system. Wall Street is the symbolic and geographic center of American capitalism. Geographically, Wall Street is the center of Manhattan's financial district. It runs east/west for eight blocks from Broadway to South Street. The Street ran along a physical wall built by Dutch settlers when New York was still a Dutch Colony. Then-Governor Peter Stuyvesant ordered a 10-foot wooden wall that protected the lower peninsula from the British and Native Americans. It later became a street bazaar where traders met under a now-famous buttonwood tree. New York Stock Exchange is located on 11 Wall Street. History Of The New York Stock Exchange The NYSE was founded 17 May 1792 when 24 stockbrokers signed the Buttonwood Agreement on Wall Street in New York City. Other businesses: The New York Federal Reserve Bank is at 33 Liberty Street, in close proximity to the Stock Exchange. The NASDAQ OMX is on 1 Liberty Place. Goldman Sachs is at 200 West Street, and JPMorgan Chase is at 200 Park Avenue. The NYMEX is at One North End Avenue in the World Financial Center. Wall Street Journal is at 1211 Avenue of the Americas.

The City History Collection. Predominantly Manhattan Views.

In the 17th century, maps took a huge leap forward. Mathematical and astronomical knowledge necessary to make accurate measurements had evolved. English mathematicians had perfected triangulation: navigation and surveying by right-angled triangles. Triangulation allowed navigators to set accurate courses and produced accurate land surveys. Seamen learned to correct their compasses for declination and had determined the existence of annual compass variation. Latitude determination was greatly improved with the John Davis quadrant. The measurement of distance sailed at sea was improved by another English invention, the common log. Longitudinal distance between Europe and Québec was determined by solar and lunar eclipses by the Jesuit Bressani in the 1640s and by Jean Deshayes in 1686. With accurate surveys in Europe, the grid of the modern map began to take shape.

In May 1624, the first settlers in New Netherland arrived on Noten Eylandt (Nut or Nutten Island, now Governors Island) aboard the ship New Netherland. Dutch West India Company wanted to protect the entrance to the Hudson River and sponsored 30 families to move from Nut Island to Manhattan Island, where a citadel to contain Fort Amsterdam was being laid out. By the end of 1625, the site had been staked out and by 1628, a small fort was built with walls containing a mixture of clay and sand. The fort also served as the center of trading activity. In the 1630s and 1640s, New Amsterdam had a population of about 270 people. Settlers built mills and in 1642 a stone church was built within the fort. New Amsterdam received municipal rights on February 2, 1653. On August 27, 1664, while England and the Dutch Republic were at peace, four English frigates sailed into New Amsterdam's harbor and demanded New Netherland's surrender. This was swiftly followed by the Second Anglo-Dutch War and in 1665, New Amsterdam was reincorporated under English law as New York City, named after the Duke of York (later King James II). He was the brother of the English King Charles II, who had been granted the lands. In July 1673, during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, the Dutch briefly and quickly occupied New York City and renamed it New Orange. In 1674, the city was relinquished to the English and the name reverted to "New York".