Allen Street

Meridian mall

Allen Street is a street in the New York City borough of Manhattan which runs north-south through the Lower Manhattan neighborhood of Chinatown, and the Lower East Side, and is continued north of Houston Street as First Avenue. Northbound and southbound sides are separated by a meridian mall. The street's namesake was Captain William Henry Allen, the youngest person to command a Navy ship in the War of 1812. He died in action at the age of 29. His exploits included the capture of the British ship HMS Macedonian^[1].

History

Prior to 1799, this street in lower Manhattan was laid out and named Chester Street". After the building of the New York Orphan Asylum on this street around May 1806 ^[2] "Chester Street" was renamed "Asylum Street". In 1833, "Asylum Street" was quietly renamed Third Street, and finally to "Allen Street" ^[3]

References

External links

• Allen Street Storefronts (A Journey through Chinatown)
• New York Songlines: First Avenue with Allen Street

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