Originally a path used by Native Americans, this road was used by Dutch traders to connect New Amsterdam with Albany. It was called Broad Way by the Dutch who widened the trail to accommodate wagons and stage coaches.

Broadway circa 1805
New York City's early fashionable residential street, Broadway, seen here in the early 19th century, looking very much as if it wished to be a street in London.

Broadway circa 1880s
When commerce invaded Broadway and pushed the city's affluent mercantile population northward, Broadway became the city's primary business thoroughfare.
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