  | |
| Namesake | Lenapeshell midden |
|---|---|
| Length | 1.3 mi (2.1 km) |
| Coordinates | 40°42′26″N74°00′23″W / 40.707095987642404°N 74.00627585328299°W /40.707095987642404; -74.00627585328299 |
| south end | State Street /The Battery |
| north end | Centre Street /Foley Square |
| Other | |
| Known for | Pearl Street Station,375 Pearl Street,Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse |
Pearl Street is a street in theFinancial District inLower Manhattan, running northeast fromBattery Park to theBrooklyn Bridge with an interruption atFulton Street, where Pearl Street's alignment west of Fulton Street shifts one block south of its alignment east of Fulton Street, then turning west and terminating atCentre Street.
Pearl Street takes its name from a prominentLenapeshell midden that was located on its southern section, and that may have also marked aLenape canoe landing.[1][2]
The colonial history of Pearl Street dates back to the early 1600s. A cow path at first,[3] it was laid out in 1633. It lay along abeachy area known as theStrand. Its name is anEnglish translation of theDutch Parelstraat (written as Paerlstraet around 1660). The street is visible on theCastello Plan along the eastern shore ofNew Amsterdam, together withSchreyers Hook Dock (cf. Amsterdam'sSchreierstoren) built byBroad Canal as the city's first wharf in 1648.[4] It was named for the manyoysters found in the river. During the period of British rule, Pearl Street was known as Great Queen Street. The "Great" was used often to differentiate from Little Queen Street, which became Cedar Street in 1784.
Pearl Street's irregular course is due to the fact that it generally followed the original eastern shoreline of the lower part of Manhattan Island, until the latter half of the 18th century when years oflandfill extended the shoreline roughly 700–900 feet (200-300m) further into theEast River, first to Water Street and later to Front Street.
The colony's first church was built in 1633, during the tenure of directorWouter van Twiller at 39 Pearl Street, just outside thefort. In 1652 a wooden defensive wall was constructed along the town's northern perimeter to protect against possible attack by English colonists. There were two gates: the "land gate" on theHeerestraat and the "water gate" at Pearl Street. In the mid-1650s, a three-story tavern near what is now 73 Pearl Street became the city's firstCity Hall.[5]
PrinterWilliam Bradford lived at 81 Pearl. In 1693, he set up the first printing press in the colony.[6]
The Walton Mansion at 326 Pearl Street was a four story house built in 1752 prior to theAmerican Revolution, known as the scene of extravagant parties. In 1784,Alexander Hamilton, and others founded theBank of New York and set up offices in the old mansion, until moving three years later toHanover Square; at one time a boarding house, it was taken down in 1881.
Herman Melville was born at 6 Pearl Street in 1819. In 1831, soap magnateWilliam Colgate owned aCounting house at 211 Pearl. In the winter of 1835, a gas pipe burst in a warehouse at the corner of Pearl andMerchant Streets, causinga fire that consumed some 600 buildings over seventeen blocks. Both sides of Pearl Street burned from Wall Street toCoenties Slip.[7]
In 1833, the publishing house ofJ. & J. Harper changed its name to Harper & Brothers. The firm was located at 329–331 Pearl Street, facingFranklin Square. They began publishingHarper's New Monthly Magazine in 1850. In December 1853 a fire destroyed the premises, but the brothers built a large cast-iron building designed by architectJames Bogardus, which was connected to a second structure on Cliff Street by cast-iron walkways. The building was demolished in 1925, but is memorialized in a painting byRichard Haas in theNew York Public Library Main Branch’sDeWitt Wallace Periodicals Room.[8] As of 2018, the company, now known asHarperCollins, is headquartered at195 Broadway.[9]
In 1851, a three-storybrownstone masonry structure was built in theItalian Renaissance style at1 Hanover Square.[10] The building extends southwest to 60–64 Stone Street (also known as 95–101 Pearl Street), a set of four-storyGreek Revival brick structures completed in 1836.[11] It served as the first headquarters of theNew York Cotton Exchange from 1872[12] to 1885.[13] Operated since 1915 as part of a private club called India House,[14] the building is designated as a New York City landmark[15][16] and is aNational Historic Landmark.[17]
In July 1854,African American school teacherElizabeth Jennings boarded astreetcar at the intersection of Pearl and Chatham Streets and was forcibly ejected.Chester A. Arthur, a 24-year-old attorney, was successful in a lawsuit brought against theThird Avenue Railway Company, thus beginning the gradual desegregation of all New York City transit systems by 1865.[18]
Thomas Edison'sPearl Street Station, the first publicpower plant in the United States, was located at 255-257 Pearl Street. It began with onedirect currentgenerator, and it startedgenerating electricity on September 4, 1882.
New York Telephone put up a large administrative building at375 Pearl Street, on the north side of the street east of theBrooklyn Bridge, in the early 1970s. Built in 1991, theDaniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse at 500 Pearl Street houses theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
In 2014, playwright and theater artistToni Schlesinger'sThe Mystery of Pearl Street about the 1997 disappearance of artists Camden Sylvia and Michael Sullivan from their Pearl Street apartment following a dispute with their landlord[19]—debuted at theDixon Place theater.
TheIRT Third Avenueelevated railway ran above Pearl Street from August 26, 1878,[20] until December 22, 1950.[21] When the elevated structure was removed, members of the India House at 1 Hanover Square proposed a maritime-themed park at Pearl Street and Hanover Square.[22][23] The park was dedicated in November 1951.[24]
TheM15 andM15 SBS run on Pearl Street east of theFulton Street interruption until St. James Place. The eastboundM22 local bus and theSIM5,SIM15 andSIM35 express buses serve short segments of the street.[25]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
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Media related toPearl Street (Manhattan) at Wikimedia Commons