Wednesday, May 5, 2021 – A SMALL STREET SO RICH ON HISTORY

By admin

STONE STREET

&

MOTHER’S DAY

SHOPPING

WEDNESDAY, MAY 5, 2021

355th  ISSUE

A Tiny Street Full of History,  part 1

Many of us have never heard of Stone Street until we have to go there to get our Senior Metrocards. @ Stone Street is the address that is really the back of  2 Broadway, where the MTA offices are located.

Stone Street is a short street in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. It runs in two sections between Whitehall Street in the west and Hanover Square in the east. The street originally ran as one continuous roadway from Whitehall Street to Hanover Square, but the section between Broad Street and Coenties Alley was eliminated in 1980 to make way for the Goldman Sachs building at 85 Broad Street. The one-block-long western section between Whitehall and Broad Streets carries vehicular traffic, while the two-block-long eastern section between Coenties Alley and Hanover Square is a pedestrian zone.

Stone Street is one of New York’s oldest streets, incorporating two 17th-century roads in the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. In 1658 it became the first cobbled street in New Amsterdam. Following the British conquest of the colony, the street was called Duke Street before being renamed Stone Street, for its cobblestone paving, in 1794. Many of the early structures around Stone Street were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1835, after which Stone Street was redeveloped with stores and lofts for dry-goods merchants and importers. Following many decades of neglect, Stone Street was restored in the late 20th century and the eastern section became a restaurant area.

1 Hanover Square is in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. It occupies the northeastern side of a block bounded by Stone Street to the northwest, Hanover Square and William Street to the northeast, Pearl Street to the southeast, and Coenties Slip to the southwest.The building carries the alternate addresses 2 Hanover Square, 60–66 Stone Street, and 95–105 Pearl Street.1 Hanover Square contains frontage of 72 feet (22 m) on Hanover Square, 123 feet (37 m) on Stone Street, and 114 feet (35 m) on Pearl Street.[5][6] The building is near 1 William Street to the northwest and the British Garden at Hanover Square to the northeast.[3]

The site was historically part of New Amsterdam, a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement in modern-day Lower Manhattan; the building’s site was acquired by Richard Smith in the 1640s.[7] By the next decade, the southern portion of the lot was sold to Evert Duyckingh (also “Duyckinck”), who developed a house on the site.[8] The northern portion was given to Abraham Martens Clock, who also developed a house on his site; after 1673, town official Nicholas Bayard bought the western end of Clock’s land and built a house there.[9] There were numerous buildings on the site by 1812, occupied by various dwellings and businesses.[4] These structures were all destroyed in the Great Fire of 1835, which leveled a large portion of the neighborhood.[10]

Dutch colonial era

Stone Street is one of New York’s oldest streets, having been built not long after the Dutch West India Company established New Amsterdam in 1624.[14] It contains parts of two colonial streets: Breuers Straet (literally “Brewers Street”), from Whitehall to Broad Streets, and Hoogh Straet (literally “High Street”), from Broad to Hanover Square. The streets formed a longer road running from Peck Slip Ferry at what is now South Street Seaport;[ they were originally connected by a bridge spanning an inlet in the middle of Broad Street.[18][20] The original street surface is about 6.5 to 7 feet (2.0 to 2.1 m) beneath the modern street.

Western section of Stone Street (originally Breuers Straet), looking toward Broad Street
Breuers Straet (renamed Straet van de Graft in 1655 and Brouwer Straet by 1668) was named after the breweries along the street.David T. Valentine subsequently wrote that, from the occupations of the residents, “it is to be inferred that this was one of the best streets of the town”.[In March 1657, residents of Breuers Straet filed a petition to pave the street with cobblestone, funding the project with their own money.The petition was approved and, in 1658, Breuers Straet became the first cobbled street in New Amsterdam.

Hoogh Straet was so named because it was on a low embankment flanked by the East River to the south and a swamp, called Bloemmaert’s or the Company Vly, to the north.[ Hoogh Straet continued northeast of Hanover Square, along what is now the northern side of Pearl Street, to modern-day Wall Street; On Hoogh Straet, the Dutch West India Company had laid out two rows of land lots by 1642, which were granted to property owners including Wessel Evertsen, Thomas Willett, and Richard Smith.[14] Around 1656, Hoogh Straet was shifted about 20 to 25 feet (6.1 to 7.6 m) northward, to align it with Breuers Straet.[Some time afterward, Hoogh Straet was paved, although the date of this paving is unknown. The Castello Plan of 1660 indicated that many structures on both streets were gable roofed houses.[

TO BE CONTINUED

MOTHER’S DAY GIFTS FROM THE R.I.H.S. VISITOR CENTER KIOSK

SPECIAL MOTHER’S DAY WEEK HOURS
WEDNESDAY, MAY 5 THRU SUNDAY, MAY 9   
12 NOON TO 5 P.M. DAILY

Perfect for mom our QUOTABLE ELEANOR, COOKIES FOR ELEANOR, ROOSEVELT ISLAND AND OUR ZINE….ALSO A GREAT MODGY VASE AN FLORAL POUCH.

A dog lovers gift APRON, POUCH AND NOTEBOOK

For someone with Queens roots………….GREAT  BOOKS ON OUR NEIGHBOR BOROUGH

WEDNESDAY PHOTOS OF THE DAY

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TUESDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY

We remember our friend, neighbor and WIRE editor Dick Lutz.
NINALUBLIN, VICKI FEINMEL, ALEXIS VILLEFANE AND 
JAY JACOBSON REMEMBERED DICK

Text by Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff

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