Maiden Lane
Originally Maiden Lane from the East River to approximately
Nassau Street was a pebbly brook where the Dutch housewives and their
young daughters would wash their clothing and household linens. The brook
was filled in during British rule and it soon became an elite residential
area, housing people such as Thomas Jefferson, while New York was the
country's capital city. The area converted quickly into fine specialty
stores due to its proximity to the docks on the East River. The New York
Arcade, built in 1827, stretched between John Street and Maiden Lane along
Broadway and contained over forty stores with a skylight-covered corridor.
This profitable commercial area was one of the first to be gas-lit by
the New York Gas-Light Company in the late 1820s. As the separation between
work and home became more distinct in New York, the area became solely
commercial, serving the needs of businessmen who spent the workweek downtown.
By the late nineteenth century many office buildings began to replace
the smaller commercial residences that had existed in the area.
Maiden Lane in 1885
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