Mercer Street (Manhattan)

149 Mercer Street, between Houston and Prince Streets

Mercer Street is a street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs north to south through Greenwich Village and SoHo neighborhoods, from East 8th Street past West Houston Street to Canal Street. The street was previously called First Street and Clermont Street, but was renamed in 1799 for Hugh Mercer,[1] a Scottish-American brigadier general who died at the Battle of Princeton,[2] which came about due to his advice to George Washington to march on Princeton.[3]

  1. ^ Mercer Playground, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
  2. ^ Feirstein, Sanna (2001). Naming New York: Manhattan Places & How They Got Their Names. New York: New York University Press. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-8147-2712-6.
  3. ^ Moscow, Henry (1978). The Street Book: An Encyclopedia of Manhattan's Street Names and Their Origins. New York: Hagstrom Company. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-8232-1275-0.