page_title: Times Square
section_title: Early history
hierarchical_section_title: Times Square / Early history
caption_attribution_description: English: South end of Longacre Square (today called Times Square), New York City, 1898, looking northwest down 42nd Street (left) from Broadway. The right half of the picture shows the triangular island between Broadway and 7th Avenue, where One Times Square now stands, which replaced the Pabst Building, a nine-story hotel and restaurant begun in October 1898 and completed a year later.&#91;1&#93;&#91;2&#93; At left, across 7th Avenue, is the future site of Hammerstein's Victoria and Roof Garden. Above the Kremonia advertising poster, left-center, is a sign advertising the property. It reads: "For sale or lease / 2 to 5 years / Daniel Seymour / Drexel Bldg. [?]" Below those words is a plan of the property, with measurements of 200 x 100, and of the plot to the west of it, which became Hammerstein's Theatre Republic. Posters advertise The Moth and the Flame, which played the Lyceum Theatre April 11 to June 18, 1898,&#91;3&#93;&#91;4&#93; Way Down East (under the Kremonia poster), which played the Manhattan Theatre from February 7 to June 18, 1898,&#91;5&#93;&#91;6&#93; and the Castle Square Opera Company, which played a season at the American Theatre on 42nd Street from December 25, 1897 to June 25, 1898.&#91;7&#93;&#91;8&#93; ↑ The New York Times, May 7, 1903. "Steel Frames and Corrosion" ↑ Watson, Edward B. and Edmond V. Gillon, Jr. (1976). New York Then and Now Mineola, N. Y.: Courier Dover Publications. ISBN: 9780486131061, p. 21. Preview online at Google Books. ↑ The New York Times, April 12, 1898. "Dramatic and Musical. The Moth and the Flame" ↑ The New York Times, June 17, 1898. "Theatrical Gossip" ↑ The Sun (New York), February 8, 1898. "Plays New to Our Stage", p. 7, col. 1 ↑ The Sun (New York), June 15, 1898. "Theatrical Amusements", p. 7, col. 1 ↑ The New York Times, December 25, 1897. "Grand Opera in English" ↑ The New York Times, June 26, 1898. "Castle Square Opera Company"
context_page_description: Times Square is a section of Manhattan, New York City. It is a major center for tourism, show business and commerce. The square is at the meeting point of Broadway, 7th Avenue and 42nd street. It is named for the New York Times which formerly had its main building there. One of the biggest stations in the New York City Subway system is under Times Square. The well-known city street area is probably most famous for its New Year's Eve ball drop that happens every year. It is one of the most famous sights of New York.
context_section_description: When Dutch people first came to Manhattan, there were three small streams. They came together near what is now 10th Avenue and 40th Street. These three streams were part of a big stream called the "Great Kill" (Dutch: Grote Kill). From there the Great Kill went through the low-lying Reed Valley, known for fish and other water animals. Its end was a deep bay in the Hudson River at present-day 42nd Street. People lived in a small area named Great Kill, where carriages were made. The higher land to the south and east was called Longacre.
  When the American Revolution was happening, John Morin Scott owned the land. Scott was in the army, which was led by George Washington. During the early 1800s, John Jacob Astor bought the land, then built houses and hotels for the rich on the land. By 1872, carriages were mainly made in Longacre. The city government named the area Longacre Square after Long Acre, a place in London where carriages were also made. Soon after, Broadway theaters were created around Longacre Square.
  In 1904, New York Times moved to a new building on 42nd Street at Longacre Square. Under there, a New York City Subway station was built. The area has been called "Times Square" since April 8, 1904. The square took its name from the newspaper. In 1913, the Times moved again. The old Times Building, One Times Square, is best known for the Times Square Ball drop that happens every December 31.
  Since 1913, the Lincoln Highway, the first road across the United States, has ended in Times Square. During the early 20th century, theatres, music halls, and very fancy hotels were built here. People called the area The Tenderloin because many people wanted to come to Times Square. Still, there were some gangsters in Times Square.
  By the 1930s, Times Square was becoming a bad place to visit.
caption: Broadway at 42nd Street in 1898
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