Rotary Club Hears About the History and Significance of Wall Street

The Alexandria Rotary Club heard a presentation on the history and significance of Wall Street.  ABC 31 News Joel Massey has more.

Financial advisor Michael Upton said, “I spoke about the history of Wall Street itself from its origins of how did it get its name of Wall Street and what does it represent today in our world.  So, we went back all the way to the 1650s to the start and ran it up to today.”

Upton spoke to the Rotary Club about Wall Street and what it means to the world.

“Wall Street is kind of like the Coke or Kleenex of the world markets.  When you think of Wall Street you think of the financial markets not only for the US but for the world itself.”

Upton says because of its importance to the world markets Wall Street is a priority target for terrorist attacks.

“Wall Street’s one of those areas that’s always high on the concern list for terrorist attacks or something of that nature because if you can cripple the US economy or the world economy you can do a lot of damage overall.”

Upton talked about the history of Wall Street and how it got its name.

“It goes back to when the Dutch occupied what is now Manhattan Island and actually built a wall around it to protect it from the British and from the pirates of those days and they were protecting that territory.  Through the years that name has transformed and kept the territorial name of Wall Street which is really just an 8-block street that’s down in the south part of Manhattan between Broadway and the East River.”