Nineteenth century.

In the first few decades, both residences and businesses occupied the area, but increasingly business predominated. "There are old stories of people's houses being surrounded by the clamor of business and trade and the owners complaining that they can't get anything done," according to a historian named Burrows.^[20] The opening of the Erie Canal in the early 19th century meant a huge boom in business for New York City, since it was the only major eastern seaport which had direct access by inland waterways to ports on the Great Lakes. Wall Street became the "money capital of America".^[17]

Historian Charles R. Geisst suggested that there has constantly been a "tug-of-war" between business interests on Wall Street and authorities in Washington, D.C..^[16] Generally during the 19th century Wall Street developed its own "unique personality and institutions" with little outside interference.^[16]

In the 1840s and 1850s, most residents moved north to midtown because of the increased business use at the lower tip of the island.^[20] The Civil War had the effect of causing the northern economy to boom, bringing greater prosperity to cities like New York which "came into its own as the nation's banking center" connecting "Old World capital and New World ambition", according to one account.^[19] J. P. Morgan created giant trusts; John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil moved to New York.^[19] Between 1860 and 1920, the economy changed from "agricultural to industrial to financial" and New York maintained its leadership position despite these changes, according to historian Thomas Kessner.^[19] New York was second only to London as the world's financial capital.^[19]

In 1884, Charles H. Dow began tracking stocks, initially beginning with 11 stocks, mostly railroads, and looked at average prices for these eleven.^[21] When the average "peaks and troughs" went up consistently, he deemed it a bull market condition; if averages dropped, it was a bear market.^[21] He added up prices, and divided by the number of stocks to get his Dow Jones average. Dow's numbers were a "convenient benchmark" for analyzing the market and became an accepted way to look at the entire stock market.^[21]

In 1889, the original stock report, Customers' Afternoon Letter, became The Wall Street Journal. Named in reference to the actual street, it became an influential international daily business newspaper published in New York City.^[22] After October 7, 1896, it began publishing Dow's expanded list of stocks.^[21] A century later, there were 30 stocks in the average.