American Fur Company incorporated

American Fur Company incorporated with John Jacob Astor as its sole stockholder; it becomes America's first monopoly. Astor learned about the fur trade while traveling to the U.S. on a ship. He met a fellow passenger who traded furs with Native Americans. Astor's business grew to include trading with Indian villages and trappers in the American wilderness. He exported furs to Europe and Asia. He benefited from the Jay Treaty of 1794, which opened up new markets in the Great Lakes region and Canada. In 1808, Astor merged all of his fur businesses into the American Fur Company. He also established subsidiaries of the American Fur Company, including the Pacific Fur Company and the Southwest Fur Company. 

The American Fur Company faced increasing competition in the 1830s, along with a decline in available furs and aggressive pricing tactics from the Hudson’s Bay Company. By the 1840s, silk had replaced fur in fashion, further weakening the industry. Despite diversifying into other ventures, the company collapsed, with most successor operations failing by the 1850s. John Jacob Astor sold his stake in 1834, reinvesting in Manhattan real estate and becoming America’s wealthiest man. By 1840, the American Fur Company’s dominance had ended.

At Astor Place and Fourth Avenue, the walls have a reproduction of a beaver, a reference to the multimillionaire John Jacob Astor's start as a fur trader, designed by the subway's architects, Heins & LaFarge.