Pearl Street was the original eastern shoreline of Manhattan. Pearl Street's irregular course is due to the fact that it generally followed the original shoreline, until the latter half of the 18th century when years of landfill extended the shoreline roughly 700–900 feet (200-300m) further into the East River, first to Water Street and later to Front Street.The street was named after the mounds of oyster shells that covered the sea shore left by the Lenape Indians and was eventually paved with them. Some scientists estimate that around half of the world`s oyster population lived in New York Harbor when Henry Hudson first arrived there. The street was called Great Queen street during the British years. The "Great" was used often to differentiate from Little Queen Street, which became Cedar Street in 1784. Landfill over the course of several hundred years, starting in the latter half of the 18th century has extended the shoreline roughly 700 - 900 feet (200-300m) further into the East River, first to Water Street and later to Front Street.The history of Pearl Street dates back to the early 1600s. A cow path at first, it was laid out in 1633. Its name is an English translation of the Dutch Parelstraat (written as Paerlstraet around 1660). The street is visible on the Castello Plan along the eastern shore of New Amsterdam.