What is now one of the largest and busiest stock exchanges in the world, the NYSE, actually had it beginnings with the Dutch immigrants. In 1653 the Dutch immigrants built a wall to ward off Indian attacks. In 1685 the wall was demolished and
a new road was built in its stead. They named the new road Wall Street. In 1792 under a buttonwood tree twenty brokers signed an agreement called “the Buttonwood Agreement,” agreeing to trade securities on a commission basis. This was the beginning of the NYSE. People would come and trade shares right in the middle of a dirt road know as Wall Street.