The street itself was originally broken up into two parts, divided at Broadway. The eastern half was Fair Street and the western half was Partition Street. In 1816, both streets were named Fulton, in honor of Robert Fulton, an engineer who became famous for his invention of the steamship in 1809. East River ferries connected this street to Fulton Street in Brooklyn, at Brooklyn Ferry at the time, Fulton Street, counting the ferry, was one continuous street from Manhattan to Brooklyn, beginning in Manhattan, traveling across the ferry, and along what is today Old Fulton Street, Cadman Plaza West, and what is now a pedestrian esplanade on the east side of the Brooklyn Borough Hall.