NYC: Wall Street and William Street

Wall Street, which runs east from Broadway to South Street on the East River, through the historical center of the Financial District, follows the line of the palisade wall that the Dutch erected across the northern permimeter of New Amsterdam in 1653 to protect agaisnt attacks from the British New Englanders. It was the first permanent home of the New York Stock Exchange and over time became the name of the surrounding neighborhood. Wall Street is also a metonym for the American financial industry.

William Street, which runs generally southwest to northeast and terminating at Broad Street and Spruce Street, was named for William Beeckman (1623-1707), a wealthy landowner and progenitor of the Beekman family in America.