Overview

When the Dutch owned Manhattan (or New Amsterdam as they called it), fierce competition for trade led to war against the British. Governor Peter Stuyvesant ordered that a fortified wall be built, stretching 2,340 feet from the East River to the Hudson River. Today the wall may be gone, but a war continues to rage during the week in the financial banks, brokerage houses and insurance companies lining the street. The biggest attraction at Wall Street is the New York Stock Exchange at 11 Wall Street.