At Nashville Home and Building Inspections, LLC, we are frequently involved in the process of inspecting walls of a home or building. So one day on a recent trip to NYC, I went looking for one of the most famous walls in the world, the wall that gave Wall Street its name. Hence the blog - Where is the wall at Wall Street?
If you ever go to Manhattan you might want to take a walk down Wall Street. Long the center of the financial world, Wall Street looks like many other streets in New York City. Large and very tall buildings lining a wide paved road. See the pic below. But wait, where is the wall? How did Wall Street gets its name?
Fortunately, and perhaps for security, several blocks of Wall Street are closed to vehicular traffic and only pedestrians can use the space. There is where you will find the secret to the name "Wall Street". Dotting the center of Wall Street are several dark wooden rectangles cut off flush with the street. See the pic below.
Below is a closeup picture of one of these wooden rectangles. Look closely and you will see that you are actually looking at a cluster of wood posts stood vertically on end and cut off now flush with the street. What could they be?
Fortunately, near the center of Wall Street, there is a placard explaining what the rectangles were for and, hence, the history of "Wall Street". See the picture below.
Its a little hard to read, but what it is saying is that the original "Wall" that gave this street it's name, was constructed in 1653 out of wood logs that were fastened to wooden pillars. So the clusters of wood posts you can still see are the remnants of the original wood pillars for the wall.
The wall was built by Dutch settlers as a defensive position for the border of then New Amsterdam. The Dutch settlers built the wall to protect themselves from the threats from Indians and pirates. The wall stretched from the banks of the Hudson River to the East River. The path that developed on the back side of the "Wall" became a commercial thoroughfare and eventually was named Wall Street. And now you know how Wall Street got its name!
Thank you,
Richard Acree
Comments in this blog posting are the copyrighted intellectual property of Richard Acree, President, HABITEC Home and Building Inspections, LLC, and contributing members of the Active Rain Real Estate network, and are intended to educate and otherwise assist home owners, sellers and buyers, building owners, sellers and buyers, realtors, real estate investors, property managers, and lenders in the process of owning, buying or selling homes or commercial buildings. HABITEC is a residential (home) and commercial building inspection company serving Middle Tennessee including Nashville, Brentwood, Franklin, Murfreesboro, Smyrna, Mt. Juliet, Hendersonville, Dickson, Belle Meade, Columbia, Spring Hill and more! In addition to building inspections HABITEC offers Environmental Services for mold assessments, radon testing and water quality analysis. Additional information about HABITEC can be found on our website at http://habitecinspections.com, or call 615-376-2753.
Richard Acree is the author of the HABITEC Home and Building Inspections Blog and founder of the ActiveRain Group Tennessee Home and Building Inspectors. All are welcome to join and see more blogs like this one.
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