9/20/2015 Manhattan Island was previously owned by the Dutch West India Company. During that time, tobacco was one of the merchandises traded by colonists. There were various oversea trips and battles took place between the Dutch and other settlers to compete in order to gain control on this lucrative trade. Wall Street is named after an actual wall erected by Dutch settlers on the southern Manhattan Island in the 17th century. It was built around the boundary of the New Armsterdam settlement. The purpose of the wall was to protect them against the attacks from pirates, various Native American tribes and also the British colonists. The name of this 12-foot wall was called “De Waal Straat”. Even though in 1699 the wall was dismantled by the British colonial government, the area near the wall has known as Wall Street. Today, Wall Street has become the epicenter of New York City.