included in the general term "Wall
street," or "The Street."

[Picture: WALL STREET.]

Wall street first appears in the history of the city as a portion of a
sheep pasture which was used in common by the inhabitants of New
Amsterdam. Its natural condition was partly rolling upland and partly
meadow of a swampy character. The name of the street originated thus:
About the middle of the seventeenth century, the English in the New
England colonies began to press heavily upon the Dutch in New
Netherlands, and kept the worthy burghers of New Amsterdam in a constant
dread of an invasion. Influenced by this feeling, the city authorities
resolved to fortify the place, and in 1653 constructed a wall or stockade
across the island, from river to river just beyond the line of the
village. This wall passed directly across the old sheep pasture.
Citizens were forbidden to build within 100 feet of the stockade, this
open space being reserved for the movements of troops. It soon became a
prominent highway, and the eastern portion has since remained so. The
anticipated attack on the city was not made, but the wall was kept in
good condition. Houses crept up close to the wall on the city side, and
began to appear on the opposite side just under the wall. Thus a new
street was formed, through which ran the old stockade. The open space
along the wall was originally called _The Cingel_, signifying "the
ramparts." Soon after the town reached the limit of the military
reservation, persons residing here were spoken of as living "long de
Wal," and from this the street came to be called "the Wall street," which
name it has ever since borne. The wall having fallen into decay, was
demolished about the year 1699, and its stones were used in the
construction of the old City Hall, which stood at the intersection of
Wall and Nassau streets, the site now occupied by the Sub-Treasury of the
United States. The old building was used for the various purposes of the
city government until the close of the Revolution. It contained, besides
the council and court rooms, a jail for the detention and punishment of
criminals, a debtors' prison, which was located in the attic, a
fire-engine-room, a cage and a pillory. A pair of stocks was set up on
the opposite side of the street, wherein criminals were exposed to the
indignant gaze of the virtuous public.

At the close of the Revolution, the City Hall was enlarged and impro