Click here to see some pictures of Canal Street.

In the United States, many small towns have around 200,000 residents. That's the same number of people who live in New York City's Chinatown. Brimming with life, Chinatown is home to a myriad of small shops selling everything from imitation designer purses to decorated fabric fans. However, when you think of Chinatown, you also think of something else: Canal Street. Canal Street, the backbone of Chinatown and the surrounding neighborhoods, is one of the most well known and famous thoroughfares in Manhattan.

Canal Street, like so many places in New York City, is steeped in history. Drawing its name from a real canal, this street has been around since 1820. When Collect Pond, a small lake which “collected” water from natural springs, was to be filled, a canal was dug to drain the lake. Modern day Canal Street was built over the original drainage canal. Some historians even say that the name of “ Canal Street ” in particular was used to dispel the popular name of “ Ditch Street ”.

While the drainage of Collect Pond led to the creation of Canal Street, it also led to the creation of the infamous Five Points neighborhood. Due to the poor landfill job done on the Collect, the land on which Five Points was built was swampy and marshy. This severely affected the value of the land. In the years between 1820 and 1840, the same time as the Irish potato famine, the area was filled with poor immigrants, mostly of Irish, German, and African ethnicities. The Five Points neighborhood had a population density that, at the time, was only rivaled by London slums. Tombs Prison, a famous Five Points location, has been on Centre Street for 160 years. Built in 1835, the official name of “the Tombs” is the Bernard B. Kerik Complex. While Canal Street was not a major part of this area, the eastern end of Canal extended into what was considered Five Points.

Along most of Canal, however, Chinatown was developing. The old borders of Chinatown were Delancey Street (to the north), East Broadway (to the east), Broadway (to the west), and Chambers Street (to the south). What would later become one of the most populated and visited areas in the city started out modestly on Mott, Park, Pell, and Doyer Streets. In the course of a few decades, however, Chinatown evolved into a bustling neighborhood filled with shops selling almost anything a person could imagine. Chinatown 's major industries are garments, tourism, electronics, and restaurants. While not officially an industry, Chinatown and Canal Street are packed with small shops selling everything from fans to shoes.

Because of its location, Canal Street is a major hub of travel to and from different parts of the city. Canal Street connects the Manhattan Bridge to the Holland Tunnel. The traffic can often come to a complete stop for a distance of quite a few blocks. Recently, a million dollar city improvement program, funded by the Federal Transit Authority, has improved crosswalk visibility, street lighting, and installed energy efficient walk signals on Canal Street.

The Canal Street subway station is one of the largest in the city and was originally four seperate stations that have now been joined together by underground passages. The J, N, Q, R, M, W, Z, 6, and 4 lines stop at Canal Street Station. The station was renovated between 1999 and 2004. Some of the original mosaics were uncovered during this renovation, but only one can be viewed at the New York Transit Museum.

Canal Street truly represents one of New York 's many flavors. From Chinatown to Five Points, shopping to working, Canal Street has a little bit of everything that makes New York City great. Through history, and into today, Canal Street continues to be the cornerstone of downtown Manhattan. Well known and well loved, Canal Street is, without a doubt, a famous street of New York.