It is most notable for the Stonewall Inn, which is located on Christopher Street near the corner of Seventh Avenue South.

As a result of the Stonewall riots in 1969, the street became the center of the world's gay rights movement in the late 1970s.

[6] West Street is on more recently filled land, but the procession of boats that had made the inaugural pass through the Erie Canal stopped at the ferry dock at the foot of Christopher Street, November 4, 1825, where it was met by a delegation from the city; together they proceeded to the Lower Bay, where the cask of water brought from the Great Lakes was ceremoniously emptied into the salt water.

[12] The annual gay pride festivals in Berlin, Cologne, and other German cities are known as Christopher Street Days.

Gay bars and stores selling leather fetish clothing and artistic decorative items flourished at that time.

[17] On June 23, 2015, the Stonewall Inn was the first landmark in New York City to be recognized by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission on the basis of its status in LGBT history,[18] and on June 24, 2016, the Stonewall National Monument was named the first U.S. National Monument dedicated to the LGBTQ-rights movement.