In the late 19C, The Strand was the city's business district. Located a block from the busy seaport, shippers unloaded merchandise from around the world in exchange for cargoes of Texas cotton. Bankers and traders filled the buildings of The Strand, which became known as the Wall Street of the Southwest. Today trolleys clang along the historic streets, transporting visitors through a district filled with specialty shops and restaurants, housed in one of the nation's largest collections of Victorian commercial architecture.