New York’s Herald Square may not be as familiar to tourists as Times Square, but just as Times Square takes its name from the headquarters of the The New York Times, a newspaper that once had offices and printing presses there, so does Herald Square takes its name from a newspaper, The New York Herald. From 1894 and for more than 20 years, The Herald had its headquarters at Broadway and 35th Street. So the area between 34th and 35th Streets and Broadway and Sixth Avenue became known as Herald Square.

In the 1894, James Gordon Bennett (1795-1872), founder and publisher of The Herald moved the newspaper’s headquarters to a new building at the intersection of Broadway, Sixth Avenue and 35th Street. The new building had been designed in the style of a palazzo in Venice. The Herald stayed at that location until 1918.Bennett, who had been born in Scotland, had started the newspaper in 1835. Its first location had been at a small space in the basement at 20 Wall Street, and before the move in the early 1890s, The Herald had had other addresses.

Bennett’s newspaper was one of the penny newspapers, one that first sold for one cent a Working-class people could afford to buy it. Early on in the paper’s history, Bennett added financial news, which included stock-market news. The Herald was known for both good reporting and sensationalism. By the time of the Civil War, it had the largest circulation of any newspaper in the U,S.

In 1887, James Gordon Bennett Jr. (1841-1918), Bennett’s son, founded the European edition of The Herald for American readers in Paris. Later, Americans other European cities and Asia could receive it too. Today it is owned by the New York Times and carries the name The International New York Times.

The younger Bennett was an able leader of the newspaper. He sent reporter Henry Morton Stanley to Africa in 1871 to find the missing British explorer David Livingstone. Stanley’s dispatches were printed in The Herald.

The Herald in the U.S. did not have the long life of is international cousin. In 1924, it was sold to The New York Tribune. The new newspaper was named The New York Herald Tribune. However, it ceased publication in 1966.

Herald Square is now a busy, wholesome area. However, for a time, while the area around Broadway did well, not all the streets around Herald Square were suitable for family fun. But currently, visitors have much to enjoy there.

Macy’s signature store at 151 W. 34th St. is officially called Macy’s Herald Square. Of course, this is the Macy’s that since 1924 has hosted the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade bearing the store’s name. Eats in Herald Square include Wafels & Dinges, a kiosk that serves Belgian waffles; Macy’s Cellar Bar & Grill in the department store; and Stella 34, a Neapolitan restaurant, on the sixth floor of Macy’s.

People can relax at Herald Square from 7 a.m to 9 p.m. daily.The square features an elaborate monument to James Gordon Bennett Jr. that dates from 1940. It features a clock, a five-foot-high bell and statues. Bell ringers ring their bells on the hour.