#35: That Makes Sense
I’ve never questioned where Wall Street got its name, but this explanation checks out. For a group of people that were wholly unimaginative when it came to naming cities, it’s pretty apparent that at least one of them had a decent sense of humor. They didn’t rename the street after taking down the wall, though. The original name given by the Dutch was “de Waalstraat” after they built the wall.
By the 1700s, this area of New York had exploded into a bustling metropolis due to its location close to the river. Wall Street has withstood the test of time as an essential part of Manhattan. The street itself isn’t very long, just seven city blocks, but it’s considered the financial capital of the United States and has been since before the Civil War.