When the Dutch had settled in New York around the year 1640 there was a big earthen wall on the northern end of their settlement, presumably to keep out Indians and other encroachers (although the Indians may have had a different point of view on who exactly were the encroachers).  A street ran along this wall and it became known as Wall Street.

Later, in the 1700’s, at the foot of Wall Street, traders and speculators would gather under an old buttonwood tree to trade stocks and securities.  And in 1792 they formalized their association with the Buttonwood Agreement which was the origin of the New York Stock Exchange.  The New York Stock Exchange is still located on Wall Street today.  It’s street and mailing address is …

NYSE Group, Inc.
11 Wall Street
New York, NY 10005