Beaver Street (Manhattan)

Beaver Street is a street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City.^[1] Beaver Street runs five blocks from Pearl Street in the east to Broadway in the west. Along its length, it crosses Hanover, William, Broad, and New Streets.^[2] The street is preserved as part of the New Amsterdam street grid, a New York City designated landmark.^[3]: 2

History

 

Dutch Cottage in Beaver Street in 1679

In the 17th century city of New Amsterdam, the Dutch 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 called Bever Graft or Beaver Canal,^[5][6]: 6 while the section to the east was called De 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 the Castello 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 called The 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 of Fort Amsterdam with all battle honors and proceeded down Beaver Street to embark on board the Gideon bound for the Netherlands, thus transferring the colony of New Netherland to English control.^[8]

 

Willett preventing removal of arms by the British - J.W. Dunsmore, 1907

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 the Thirteen 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 of Pierre Van Cortlandt.^[11]

Architecture

 

A photo of Beaver Street in Manhattan, New York City

The western end of Beaver Street contains the Standard Oil Building at 26 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 a Childs Restaurants location among other businesses.^{[12]: 3 [17]} The building is designated as a New York City landmark.^[18]

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

The Delmonico's Building is located at 56 Beaver Street, at the southwest corner of South William Street. Housing a location of Delmonico's Restaurant, it is an eight-story brick building completed in 1891.^[21][22] Delmonico's was intended to complement the New 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, is 1 Wall Street Court. Constructed between 1903 and 1904 as a speculative 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 the Munson Line, a steamship-line company in the Americas.^[25] The building also served as the home of the New York Cocoa Exchange from 1931^[26][27] to 1972.^[28] It was turned into residential condominiums by 2006.^[29][30]

References

1. "BEAVER STREET, Financial District". Forgotten New York. January 10, 2015. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
2. "NYCityMap". NYC.gov. New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
3. "Street Plan of New Amsterdam and Colonial New York" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. June 14, 1983. (PDF) from the original on December 23, 2016. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
4. Kadinsky, Sergey (2016). Hidden Waters of New York City: A History and Guide to 101 Forgotten Lakes, Ponds, Creeks, and Streams in the Five Boroughs. New York, NY: Countryman Press. pp. 20–21. ISBN 978-1-58157-566-8.
5. Benson, Egbert; New-York Historical Society (1825). Memoir Read Before the Historical Society of the State of New-York, December 31, 1816. Henry C. Sleight. p. 79.
6. Post, John J (1882). "Old streets, roads, lanes, piers and wharves of New York. Showing the former and present names, together with a list of alterations of streets, either by extending, widening, narrowing or closing". R. D. Cooke. from the original on April 10, 2016 – via Internet Archive.
7. Valentine, David Thomas. History of the city of New-York, G.P. Putnam & Company, 1853, p. 37  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
8. O'Callaghan, Edmund Bailey. History of New Netherland: Or, New York Under the Dutch, Vol. 2, 1848, p. 536  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
9. Levinger, Lee (2007). A History of the Jews in the United States. Wildside Press. p. 66. ISBN 978-1-4344-8698-1.
10. Scharfstein, Sol (1999). Understanding Jewish Holidays and Customs: Historical and Contemporary. Ktav Publishing House. p. 134. ISBN 978-0-88125-626-0. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
11. Willett, William Marinus. A Narrative of the Military Actions of Colonel Marinus Willett, G. & C. & H. Carvill, 1831, p. 29 et seq  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
12. "Standard Oil Building" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. September 19, 1995. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
13. "Standard Oil Company Building". The New York Times. April 3, 1884. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on January 31, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
14. Landau, Sarah; Condit, Carl W. (1996). Rise of the New York Skyscraper, 1865–1913. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. pp. 133–134. ISBN 978-0-300-07739-1. OCLC 32819286.
15. "Standard Oil Company Preparing to Erect Twenty-seven Story Structure on Broadway". The New York Times. March 6, 1921. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on February 3, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
16. Brown, Charles R. (1897). "Engineering Problems of the Tall Building". Engineering Magazine. Vol. 13. p. 413 – via Internet Archive.
17. Stern, Robert A. M.; Gilmartin, Patrick; Mellins, Thomas (1987). New York 1930: Architecture and Urbanism Between the Two World Wars. New York: Rizzoli. pp. 539–540. ISBN 978-0-8478-3096-1. OCLC 13860977.
18. Dunlap, David W. (October 15, 1995). "Bringing Downtown Back Up". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on January 30, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
19. "Historic Structures Report: American Bank Note Company Building" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service. November 30, 1999. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
    "American Bank Note Company Office Building" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. June 24, 1997. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
20. Alexa, Alexandra (December 3, 2018). "In the market for a palace? This massive FiDi landmark is 50% off". 6sqft. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
21. "Delmonico's Steak House NYC 10004". Delmonico's Steak House NYC 10004. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
22. Stern, Robert A. M.; Mellins, Thomas; Fishman, David (1999). New York 1880: Architecture and Urbanism in the Gilded Age. Monacelli Press. p. 734. ISBN 978-1-58093-027-7. OCLC 40698653.
23. "Delmonico's Building" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. February 13, 1996. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
24. "Historic Structures Report: Beaver Building" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service. July 6, 2005. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
    "Beaver Building" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. February 13, 1996. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
25. "Munson Building Opens; Steamship Company Completes Project Begun a Year Ago". The New York Times. May 8, 1921. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
26. "N.Y. Cocoa Exchange Going to New Home". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 25, 1931. p. 23. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
27. "Cocoa Exchange Moves To New Trading Quarters". The New York Times. April 26, 1931. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
28. Ennis, Thomas W. (May 2, 1972). "Cocoa Unit Opens at New Quarters". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
29. "1 Wall Street Court". CCM. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
30. "Development Du Jour: The Cocoa Exchange". Curbed NY. April 19, 2006. Retrieved August 13, 2021.