Click here to see some pictures of Broadway.

When someone hears the word Broadway they think of going to see a play, but Broadway is actually a street offering more than theaters. It is made up of bustling sidewalks that are home to many important events like the famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Broadway runs from the southern tip of Manhattan to Albany, making it the longest street in the world.

The very first people that populated Broadway were Native Americans. To them, Broadway was a trail called the Wickquasgeck Trail. Its most recent name, other than Broadway, was Bloomingdale Road which was named after a village on the present day Upper West Side . Today Broadway is nicknamed The Great White Way in honor of the glowing lights on Broadway. In fact, Broadway is famous for its vast number of lights making it the second most lit street in the world.

When Dutch Settlers came to America they called what Broadway is today Heere Straat, which means High Street. They also called it Broad Wagon Way because the street was so long it was easy to drive a wagon through it. This is where the name Broadway came from. The first Broadway show was called the “The Black Crook.” The show was quite dramatic: it had hundreds of dancing gypsies from Paris and featured an orchestra. The 1900's saw the start of the theater district which extended from 13 th Street to 45 th Street. In the year 1942 the Stage Door Canteen opened. It was designed to entertain the public with shows and to provide food for servicemen fighting in World War II.

However, in 1948 80% of the actors were suddenly unemployed. When television and film started to become popular, the theater business began to diminish because everyone was watching television or flocking to the cinema. Consequently, many of the nearly empty theaters soon began to close down.

In the years following, the appeal of Broadway returned and its theaters began to fill once again. There are actually only four theaters on Broadway: the Palace Theater, the Marquis Theater, the Winter Garden Theater, and the Broadway Theater. Some other well known things that are on Broadway are City Hall, International Toy Center, Union Square, Times Square, and Macy's. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade takes place along Broadway, since it is the only street in New York that goes from tip to tip.

Broadway is known for its diverse amusements as well as its world class theaters. Broadway is one of the largest and most popular tourist attractions in New York because of its variety of musical theater. There are a lot of different things to see in New York City and plenty of places to go. Broadway, illuminated with its lights and many events, makes you feel that the rest of New York City might not be there at all.