Straus Square

Canal St., Rutgers St. and E. Broadway

Manhattan, 10002

This text is part of Parks’ Historical Signs Project and can be found posted within the park.

Straus Square is named for Nathan Straus (1848-1931), who was born in Otterberg, Rhenish Bavaria (now Germany) on January 31, 1848. His father, Lazarus, emigrated to America in 1852, and the rest of the family followed in 1854. They settled in Talbotton, Georgia. Nathan’s formal education included Sunday School classes with a Baptist minister and preparatory schooling in Georgia; advanced studies, religious instruction, and Hebrew lessons in Alabama; and professional training at Packard Business College in New York City, where the family moved after the Civil War.