Henry Street (Manhattan)

The street is named for Henry Rutgers, a hero of the American Revolutionary War, and prominent philanthropist.

[1] Thanks to Rutgers' generosity a church was constructed at Henry and Oliver Streets to serve sailors from the East River docks.

The Mariner's Temple at 3 Henry Street was built in 1845, and continued to serve maritime workers and their families.

The poor condition of immigrants living in squalid tenements on Henry Street and the surrounding neighborhood in the late 19th century prompted nurses Lillian Wald and Mary Maud Brewster to found the Henry Street Settlement in 1893.

In recent times, Henry Street continues to be an immigrant neighborhood and has been absorbed into an expanding Chinatown.