Broadway, as the name implies, is a wide avenue in New York City, and is the oldest north-south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to the first New Amsterdam settlement. The name Broadway is an English translation of the Dutch name, Breede weg. The street is famous as the pinnacle of the American theater industry.
Broadway originated as an Indian trail called the Wickquasgeck Trail, which was carved into the brush land of Manhattan. This trail originally snaked through swamps and rocks along the length of Manhattan Island. Upon the arrival of the Dutch, the trail soon became the main road through the island from New Amsterdam at the southern tip. The Dutch explorer and entrepreneur David de Vries gives the first mention of it in his journal for the year 1642 ("the Wickquasgeck Road over which the Indians passed daily").
Broadway originated as an Indian trail called the Wickquasgeck Trail, which was carved into the brush land of Manhattan. This trail originally snaked through swamps and rocks along the length of Manhattan Island. Upon the arrival of the Dutch, the trail soon became the main road through the island from New Amsterdam at the southern tip. The Dutch explorer and entrepreneur David de Vries gives the first mention of it in his journal for the year 1642 ("the Wickquasgeck Road over which the Indians passed daily").
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Last Updated: Sep 2009
Last Updated: Sep 2009
What is the Broadway?
Broadway runs the length of Manhattan, being the only street running from almost the southern tip of the island, at Bowling Green, to the northern tip. South of Columbus Circle, it is a one-way street with all vehicle traffic traveling southbound. It crosses Spuyten Duyvil Creek via the Broadway Bridge and continues through the Bronx to Westchester County.
Broadway continues running through several Hudson River towns as U.S. Route 9, before becoming the "New York-Albany Post Road," and running through the state capital, Albany, terminating in Champlain, New York at the Canadian border. (Many towns along the way refer to the route as Broadway on their individual jurisdictions.) Diagonally crossing the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 of Manhattan streets, its intersections with avenues have been marked by "squares" (some merely triangular slivers of open space) and induced some interesting architecture, such as the famous Flatiron Building.
Broadway continues running through several Hudson River towns as U.S. Route 9, before becoming the "New York-Albany Post Road," and running through the state capital, Albany, terminating in Champlain, New York at the Canadian border. (Many towns along the way refer to the route as Broadway on their individual jurisdictions.) Diagonally crossing the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 of Manhattan streets, its intersections with avenues have been marked by "squares" (some merely triangular slivers of open space) and induced some interesting architecture, such as the famous Flatiron Building.
