Pearl Street (Manhattan)
Encyclopedia
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
section of the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, running northeast from Battery Park to the Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...
, then turning west and terminating at Centre Street
Centre Street (Manhattan)
Centre Street runs north-south in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Centre Street runs from Park Row and continues north to Delancey Street where it merges with Lafayette Street....
. Pearl Street generally marks the original eastern shoreline of the lower part of Manhattan Island; extensive use of landfill
Land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, is the process to create new land from sea or riverbeds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground or landfill.- Habitation :...
over the course of several hundred years has extended the shoreline roughly 700–900 feet (200-300m) further into the East River
East River
The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
.
The name Pearl Street is an English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
translation of the Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
Parelstraat (written as Paerlstraet around 1660). This street along the eastern shore of New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....
was named for the many oyster
Oyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
s found in the river. During the British years, Pearl Street was known as (Great) Queen Street. The "Great" was used often to differentiate from (Little) Queen Street, which in 1784 became Cedar Street.
In the mid 1650s a three storey tavern became NYC's first City Hall near what is now 73 Pearl Street.
Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
's first power plant
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
, Pearl Street Station
Pearl Street Station
Pearl Street Station was the first central power plant in the United States. It was located at 255-257 Pearl Street in Manhattan on a site measuring 50 by 100 feet, just south of Fulton Street. It began with one direct current generator, and it started generating electricity on September 4, 1882,...
, was located here. The IRT Third Avenue
IRT Third Avenue Line
The IRT Third Avenue Line, commonly known as the Third Avenue El, was an elevated railway in Manhattan and the Bronx, New York City. Originally operated by an independent railway company, it was acquired by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and eventually became part of the New York subway...
elevated railway
Elevated railway
An elevated railway is a form of rapid transit railway with the tracks built above street level on some form of viaduct or other steel or concrete structure. The railway concerned may be constructed according to the standard gauge, narrow gauge, light rail, monorail or suspension railway system...
also ran above Pearl Street until 1950. New York Telephone
New York Telephone
The New York Telephone Company was organized in 1896, taking over the New York City operations of the American Bell Telephone Company.-Predecessor companies:...
put up a large administrative building at 375 Pearl on the north side of the Street, east of the Brooklyn Bridge, in the 1970s.