Herald Square

Herald Square, 1932

Herald Square was named for the New York Herald, a leading newspaper in New York City that was headquartered on 35th Street in an arcaded two story Italianate building designed by McKim, Mead, and White. The area became the heart of the Tenderloin in the 1870s and 1880s after the Sixth Avenue Elevated was built, and it was known for theaters, dance halls, seafood restaurants, and opera houses.

After R.H. Macy bought and razed the Manhattan Opera House in 1901, and built the world's largest department store a year later, the neighborhood became one of the best known shopping districts in the world. Despite the closing of a number of major department stores -- Gimbles, Saks 34th Street, and B. Altman and Company -- the neighborhood still remains predominately a shopping district.