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In 1790, Congress authorized the issue of $80 million in bonds to help pay for the costs of the Revolutionary War. They were originally traded in various coffee houses, auction rooms, and offices, but the trading itself was mostly unorganized and irregular. And, people were reluctant to invest unless they knew they could sell their securities whenever they wanted.

On May 17, 1792, a group of 26 merchants and auctioneers met to fix the problem. They agreed to meet daily at regular hours to buy and sell securities under an old buttonwood tree on Wall Street. This was the beginning of the New York Stock Exchange. Today, the NYSE is located only a few blocks from the site of the initial meeting, and how it came to get its name today.

Source: The Stock Market by Richard Jack Teweles and Edward S. Bradley, published by John Wiley & Sons, 1998