What was the first name of the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration area before 1904?

Before 1904, the area now known for New Year’s Eve as Times Square was called Longacre Square.

The name changed after the New York Times moved its headquarters to the newly completed Times Building, now One Times Square. New York City officially renamed the area Times Square in 1904. That same year, the newspaper held a New Year’s Eve celebration there to publicize its new headquarters.

The celebration quickly became a major public event. Fireworks were initially used, but the ball drop was introduced in 1907 after fireworks were prohibited at the site. The place name therefore predates the famous ball-drop tradition by several years.

Longacre Square itself had been associated with carriage manufacturing and commerce, much like the Long Acre district in London. The old name is often confused with other Manhattan squares, especially Union Square and Herald Square, but it was Longacre Square that became Times Square.