115 Years Of Vintage Photos Show How Times Square Has Changed

Happy New Year!

It wasn't until New Year's Eve 1907 that the annual ball-drop began in what we now call Times Square. (Previously Longacre Square, it was renamed for The New York Times in 1904.)

Here's a look at how one of Manhattan's most famous spots has evolved in the past 100-plus years:

1898

Via Wikimedia Commons

1902

Via New York Public Library

1903

Via Wikimedia Commons

1905

Via Irving Underhill, Library of Congress

1908

Via Detroit Publishing Company

1909

Via New York Public Library

1915

Via New York Public Library

1916

Via New York Public Library

1919

Via Wikimedia Commons

1920

Via Brown Brothers

Via New York Public Library

1921

Via New York Public Library

1925

Via New York Public Library

1929

Via New York Public Library

Via New York Public Library

1933

Via Samuel Gottscho, Library of Congress

1934

Via Library of Congress

1936

Via New York Public Library

1940

Via Gottscho Schleisner, Inc., Library of Congress

Via Gottscho Schleisner, Inc., Library of Congress

1941

Via U.S. Office of Emergency Management, Library of Congress

1942

Via Marjory Collins, Library of Congress

1943

Via John Vachon, Library of Congress

Via John Vachon, Library of Congress

Via John Vachon, Library of Congress

1944

Via Office of War Information

Via U.S. Office of War Information

Via Roger Smith, Library of Congress

1950

Via eBay

Via eBay

1960

Via eBay

1980s

Via Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress

1995

Via Wikimedia Commons

2000s

Via Wikimedia Commons

2006

Via Wikimedia Commons

2011

Via Wikimedia Commons

2012

Via Wikimedia Commons

2013

Via Adrienne LaFrance

Via Wikimedia Commons

For more old-school Times Square photos, check out the New York City Department of Records, Gothamist's gallery of Getty Images from 1970s-era Times Square, and Retronaut's photos of billboards in Times Square circa 1900.