Centre Street is a north–south street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, running through the Civic Center, Chinatown, and Little Italy neighborhoods of Lower Manhattan. It connects Park Row to the south with Cleveland Place to the north. Centre Street carries northbound traffic north of Reade Street and two-way traffic between Reade Street and the Brooklyn Bridge.
In the early 19th century there was no Centre Street. The area was previously occupied by the Collect Pond, a body of fresh water that was the nascent city's primary supply of drinking water, covering approximately 48 acres (190,000 m) and running as deep as 50 feet (15 m). The pond was located just north of today's Foley Square and just west of modern Chinatown. It had been drained and the new street grid built over it a decade earlier. However, there was no street built between Pearl and Reade Streets. Cross Street (which came over from the nearby area that would several years later be dubbed the "Five Points") ran all the way through to Reade, and a single block ran from Reade to Chambers, and afterwards turned east and ran into Chatham Street (future Park Row). In the previous century, this block, then ending at the Collect Pond, was labeled "Potter's Hill". North of Pearl Street, a separate street occupying the alignment was called "Collect Street". By 1828, it would be renamed Centre Street, but still end at Pearl from the north. As late as 1836, one map would still show this arrangement, but in another the full alignment would be in place.
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