Beaver Street is a street in theFinancial District ofLower Manhattan inNew York City.^[1] Beaver Street runs five blocks fromPearl Street in the east toBroadway in the west. Along its length, it crosses Hanover,William,Broad, and New Streets.^[2] The street is preserved as part of theNew Amsterdam street grid, aNew York City designated landmark.^[3]: 2

In the 17th century city ofNew Amsterdam, theDutch created two canals, one at present-day Broad Street and one at present-day Beaver Street.^[4] The latter originally existed as two separate tributaries of the Broad Street canal; the section west of modern-day Broad Street was calledBever Graft or Beaver Canal,^[5][6]: 6 while the section to the east was calledDe Prince Graft or Prince Canal,^[6]: 52 which ended in a ditch that the Dutch called a "sloot".^[5] Despite the fact that Prince Canal became Princes Street (later Beaver Street),Prince Graft was a name referring to a canal on Broad Street, not Beaver Street.^{[3]: 10 [6]: 52}

Beaver Street was created by 1658, and possibly as early as 1639, as part of the street plan for New Amsterdam as recorded in theCastello Plan.^[3]: 9 The modern-day street incorporates parts of three colonial streets: Beaver Street, Princes Street, and the Sloot (later Merchant Street).^{[3]: 9 [6]: 51–52} The modern name comes from the section between Broadway and Broad Streets, which was named in the 1660s for beaver pelts that were economically important to New Amsterdam.^[1][3]: 9 It was here that a tavern calledThe Sign of the Lion was located.^[7]

The section from Broad to William Street, originally Prince Canal, was known as Prince Street by 1660.^{[3]: 9 [6]: 36} On September 8, 1664, the Dutch forces marched out ofFort Amsterdam with all battle honors and proceeded down Beaver Street to embark on board theGideon bound for the Netherlands, thus transferring the colony of New Netherland to English control.^[8]

In 1682, a synagogue opened in a house on Beaver Street between Broadway and Broad Street, the first in the city^[9] and one of the first in theThirteen Colonies.^[10] The canal west of Broad Street continued to exist until 1684. By 1693, what had been Beaver Canal was known as Beaver Street.^[3]: 9 The eastern tributary was renamed Princes Street by 1695, Princess Street by 1711, and Carmer Street by 1767. The section east of William Street was known as Sloat Lane (also known as Slote Lane and the Sloot) by 1730 and later became known as Merchant Street.^[3]: 9 On June 6, 1775, the British garrison withdrew to warships in the harbor.Marinus Willett and others confronted them at the intersection of Broad and Beaver Streets and confiscated a number of carts loaded with arms to prevent them being taken back to the ships. The five carts were driven up Beaver Street to Broadway, then to the John Street property of Abraham Van Wyck, son-in-law ofPierre Van Cortlandt.^[11]

The western end of Beaver Street contains theStandard Oil Building at26 Broadway.^[12] Built as a nine-story building in 1885,^{[12]: 2 [13][14]} the building was expanded by several stories in 1895.^{[12]: 2 [15][16]} The current 31-story structure, completed in 1928 as part of another expansion, replacing aChilds Restaurants location among other businesses.^{[12]: 3 [17]} The building is designated as aNew York City landmark.^[18]

TheAmerican Bank Note Company Office Building is at 70Broad Street, on the southwest corner of Beaver Street. The building was erected in 1908 as the home of theAmerican Bank Note Company, a leading engraving company that producedbanknotes,currency,stamps, and stock certificates. It is a New York City landmark and on theNational Register of Historic Places.^[19] As of 2018^[update], the building was being marketed for residential use.^[20]

TheDelmonico's Building is located at 56 Beaver Street, at the southwest corner of South William Street. Housing a location ofDelmonico's Restaurant, it is an eight-story brick building completed in 1891.^[21][22] Delmonico's was intended to complement theNew York Cotton Exchange building of 1883–1885, across the street.^[22] It is a New York City designated landmark.^[23]

At the eastern end of Beaver Street, where it merges with Pearl Street, is1 Wall Street Court. Constructed between 1903 and 1904 as aspeculative development, it is a New York City landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places.^[24] 1 Wall Street Court was originally known as the Beaver Building and contained the offices of theMunson Line, asteamship-line company in the Americas.^[25] The building also served as the home of theNew York Cocoa Exchange from 1931^[26][27] to 1972.^[28] It was turned into residential condominiums by 2006.^[29][30]

• Streets in Manhattan
• Financial District, Manhattan

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