The first Times Square Ball was lowered from the flagpole of One Times Square.
The building was constructed as the headquarters of The New York Times and originally stood at the centre of Longacre Square, which was renamed Times Square in 1904. The newspaper's move helped give the area its modern identity and provided the setting for a new public New Year's Eve spectacle.
Adolph Ochs, the newspaper's publisher, arranged the first ball drop for December 31, 1907. The ball was lowered from the building's flagpole to mark midnight, replacing fireworks that city authorities had restricted. The original device was much smaller and simpler than today's illuminated sphere.
One Times Square later became strongly associated with electronic advertising and the annual countdown. The building has changed owners and uses over time, but its connection with the ceremony remains. The event is sometimes mistakenly linked to the Empire State Building because that skyscraper is another famous New York landmark; it has never been the building from which the Times Square Ball is dropped.