From Old Wells and Watercourses of the Island of Manhattan, by George Everett Hill and George E. Waring, Jr. in Historic New York: the First Series of the Half Moon Papers (New York, 1899):
In a depression which followed the line of the present Maiden Lane from Nassau Street to the East River, a little stream of sparkling spring water rippled and danced over a pebbly bottom. The southerly bank was steep, but not abrupt, while, on the north, a gentle grassy slope extended from the water to a sharper rise just beyond. The spot presented such facilities for the washing and bleaching of linen that it became a resort for laundry women, and because of this it was first called Maagde Paetje, or Virgins' Path. (p. 311)
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