In the 18C, this street was home to various ministries and departments: n° 1, the former Grand Commun, by Mansart in 1684; n° 3, the former War Office, built in 1759 by Berthier; and n° 5, the former Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Navy, where, in 1762, the alliance between France and the American "insurgents" took place. Since the 19C, it has been the town's public library, created from the seizure of the royal libraries during the Revolution.