Following many decades of neglect, Stone Street was restored in the late 20th century and the eastern section became a restaurant area.

Stone Street contains several prominent structures, including 1 Hanover Square, a National Historic Landmark.

Custom House, has entrances to the New York City Subway's South Ferry/Whitehall Street station, served by the 1​, R​, and ​W trains.

[20] In March 1657, residents of Breuers Straet filed a petition to pave the street with cobblestone, funding the project with their own money.

[27][28][29] Hoogh Straet was so named because it was on a low embankment flanked by the East River to the south and a swamp, called Bloemmaert's or the Company Vly, to the north.

[18][19] Hoogh Straet continued northeast of Hanover Square, along what is now the northern side of Pearl Street, to modern-day Wall Street;[16] On Hoogh Straet, the Dutch West India Company had laid out two rows of land lots by 1642, which were granted to property owners including Wessel Evertsen, Thomas Willett, and Richard Smith.

[14] A census of residents in 1789 found that High Street was home to an attorney, rabbi, shopkeepers, maritime industry workers, and craftsmen.

[35] Following the American Revolutionary War, New Yorkers sought to change the names of locales and structures that reflected British rule.

[32] At the beginning of the 19th century, after Lower Manhattan was expanded via landfill, the area became increasingly commercial and many residences on and around Stone Street were subdivided.

[40] By the 1820s, some structures on Stone Street were being built specifically for commercial use; these were likely made of brick with brownstone trimming.

[39] In addition, there were complaints the street was dirty, as the wooden sewers frequently needed to be replaced or fixed.

[40] Most of the area's structures were damaged or destroyed on December 16, 1835, when the Great Fire of New York started at a nearby warehouse and spread through the neighborhood by high winds.

[43][44] Immediately after the fire, real estate prices in the neighborhood increased drastically, prompting the area's wealthy residents to sell off their land.

[47][48] The designs of Stone Street's Greek Revival buildings were devised by professional architects, who either sold the plans to builders or supervised the construction themselves.

[59] Amos R. Eno's son, Amos F. Eno, hired C. P. H. Gilbert in 1903 to remodel the building at 57 Stone Street in the Dutch Colonial Revival style and, in 1908, rehired Gilbert for a similar renovation at 55 Stone Street.

Between these two renovations merchant Henry Schaefer hired Edward L. Tilton to redesign 53 Stone Street in the same style.

[64] Following World War I, numerous mid-rise buildings were built on Stone Street, some of which were erected by marine insurance companies.

[65] Underwriting firm Chubb & Son hired Arthur C. Jackson in 1919 to design a neo-Renaissance facade for the existing structure at 54 Stone Street.

[69] Financial firm Lehman Brothers purchased the site bounded by Broad, South William, and Pearl Streets and Coenties Alley during the late 1960s.

[70] The site was cleared, but amid a poor real estate market, the building plan was scrapped in 1970 and the vacant lot became parking space.

[71] In subsequent years, the vacant block of Stone Street had become neglected and was accumulating trash.

[73] The following year, the site's owner Galbreath-Ruffin started developing the 30-story tower at 85 Broad Street.

[82] Old-style lampposts and about 23,000 cobblestones were installed to change the street's character to attract commercial investment.

[5][6] The work was completed in 2000, and the eastern section of Stone Street became a busy restaurant district during the following decade.

[48] Architecturally, the ground-level storefronts of these structures contain smooth granite piers in a trabeated configuration.

[86] Some buildings have minor additional decorative features, such as the granite piers and lintels at 51–55 Stone Street.