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1903 -

This 1903 image captures a street sweeper working amidst horse-drawn carriages along Broadway, south of 45th Street in Long Acre Square, later named Times Square.

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1904 -

Formerly known as Longacre Square, Times Square was renamed in 1904 after The New York Times moved its headquarters to the then newly-erected Times Building, seen here under construction.

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1904 -

A 1904 exterior view of the Times Building under construction, showing the 28-story steel skeleton. The building's address remains one the most famous in the city—One Times Square.

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1907 -

Billboards displayed above store fronts at 42nd St. and Broadway on Times Square in 1907. Prominence is given to advertising the New York Hippodrome, which opened in 1905 and operated until 1939, when it closed and was later demolished.

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1910 -

The landmark Broadway Hotel Astor and Astor Theater on Times Square, photographed in 1910. The Astor Hotel was completed in 1910 and was in operation through 1967, when it was closed and demolished. The site is now occupied by the 54-story office tower One Astor Plaza.

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1917 -

Slapping up Liberty Loan posters on boards at Times Squares in 1917 is none other than silent film star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle (1887–1933). One of the highest-paid actors of the era, Arbuckle's career ended in the early 1920s after he was accused (wrongly as it turned out) of sexual assault and manslaughter in a series of sensational trials. He died in his sleep of a heart attack in 1933, aged 46. 

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1919 -

Looking north from the Times Building, at the intersection of Broadway and Seventh Avenue at 42nd Street, crowds gather waiting for the results of the 1919 World Series. The events of the series are often associated with the Black Sox Scandal, when several members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series against their opponents, the Cincinnati Reds, in exchange for money from a gambling syndicate.

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1923 -

A sea of boater hats gathers in Times Square to watch the account of the Jack Dempsey and Tommy Gibbons boxing fight on July 4, 1923. Jack Dempsey won on points.

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1931 -

One of the most eagerly awaited movies of 1931 was 'City Lights,' the latest Charlie Chaplin film. Among the Times Square theaters showing the film was the George M. Cohan Theater. The venue was demolished in 1938.

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1932 -

Times Square drew thousands of people on August 31, 1932, who came to watch a partial eclipse of the sun. Some of them are pictured in the crowd wearing dark coated glasses to protect their eyes.

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1933 -

Bystanders watch firefighters tackle a blaze in a dance hall above the Strand Theatre at 1579 Broadway, on the corner of Times Square, on April 11, 1933. One workman was killed in the blaze. The movie palace closed in 1987 and was later demolished.

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1935 -

Times Square looking north from the Times Building towards midtown Manhattan. The increase in vehicle and pedestrian traffic is noticeable.

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1939 -

A New York City police officer uses an emergency telephone in Times Square in 1939. The film being shown in the theater on the opposite side of the street is 'Panama Patrol,' a drama starring Leon Ames, Charlotte Wynters, and Adrienne Ames.

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1941 -

With war already raging in Europe, American citizens in Times Square watch a bulletin board for the latest news after the attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The newspaper headline reads: "Japs Bomb Hawaii."

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1943 -

Military personnel, including officers and a band, addressing the public at a recruitment rally in Times Square during the Second World War.

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1945 -

The single newspaper headline says it all—"Nazis Quit!" Ecstatic crowds gather in Times Square on May 8, 1945 to celebrate V-E Day, the ending of the Second World War in Europe.

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1946 -

After the war, the American economy experienced a boom. Times Square saw a marked increase in the level of advertising hoardings festooning building facades, selling anything from beverages to tobacco.

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1947 -

A jaw-dropping view of the Times Building and the square. 'Forever Amber,' the movie being promoted in the bottom right of the photograph, stars Linda Darnell and Cornel Wilde. It was directed by Otto Preminger.

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1950 -

By the beginning of the 1950s, advertisers were getting more ambitious in the way they promoted their wares. This Times Square clothing department store doubles up as a restaurant and movie theater— and one giant advertising hoarding!

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1951 -

The facade of the aforementioned Astor Hotel remains refreshingly bereft of neon, which by now had become a ubiquitous source of Times Square illumination. This nighttime street scene is dated to 1951.

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1952 -

Two silhouetted women wait at a bus stop under umbrellas as rain lashes Times Square during early evening. Behind them on the right is the famous Bond department store. Opened in 1940, it was dubbed "the cathedral of clothing." The store closed in 1977.

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1955 -

In the heyday 1940s and 1950s, Times Square became a magnet for celebrities, many of them movie stars attending their own film premieres, or those of others. Here's Marilyn Monroe arriving at the screening of 'The Rose Tattoo' at the Astor Theatre on December 12, 1955. The picture stars Burt Lancaster and Italian actress Anna Magnani.

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1958 -

The second half of the 1950s in America saw the rise of rock and roll. Fittingly, the movie on show at Lowe's State Theatre is 'King Creole,' starring Elvis Presley. The venue closed in February 1987, and is now the site of the Bertelsmann Building.

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1960 -

A crowd of 600,000 horn-blowing revelers greet the New Year at midnight in Times Square, and welcome in 1960. But the new decade marked the decline of Times Square and instead beckoned an uglier side to a once celebrated New York City neighborhood.

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1963 -

The Big Apple's core had begun to rot. From the 1960s to the mid-1990s, Times Square was tainted with a seedy veneer, a fact exemplified by the influx of sex shops and adult theaters. Tourists stayed away, as did celebrities.

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1965 -

In 1965, the cherished Times Building was purchased by Allied Chemical. The company greatly modified the building's facade, replacing the intricate granite and terracotta elements with a plain marble coat.

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1966 -

Times Square in the 1960s earned a reputation for crime and sleaze. The 1969 movie 'Midnight Cowboy' was filmed in and around the square, a place depicted as gritty, dark, and desperate, and an environment little changed by the time Martin Scorsese made 'Taxi Driver' in the city in 1976.

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1969 -

In December 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono purchased billboard space in Times Square to declare "War Is Over!" as a Christmas message and as a call for peace worldwide. But conditions in Times Square itself only worsened in the 1970s and 1980s, with New York City experiencing an unprecedented crime wave during these two decades.

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1999 -

By 1999, Times Square had cleaned up its act. The neighborhood underwent a thorough revitalization prior to hosting its largest New Year's Eve celebration, that of ringing in the new millennium.

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2004 -

Times Square celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2004, when this photograph was taken of the area, streamlined and tidy but still teeming with traffic and pedestrians.

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2012 -

Times Square in full flow. One Times Square, the site of the former Times Building, is today considered one of the most valuable advertising locations in the world.

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2020 -

Times Square sits empty while fireworks and confetti are displayed at the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square on December 31, 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown prevented the seasonal end-of-year festivities from taking place.

Sources: (Smithsonian Magazine)

See also: A curtains up history of Broadway

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