Grand Central Station turns 100

Travel

See why this majestic Beaux Arts building, technically a terminal, is one of the world's most popular tourist destinations.

Grand Central, the country's most famous train station and once in danger of being demolished, is celebrating its 100th birthday with events throughout 2013.

Travelers cross Grand Central's main concourse, as seen from a bird's eye view through a window near the ceiling. Its centennial comes 15 years after a triumphant renovation that removed decades of grime and decay.

The iconic building, shown in 1945, has been used as a backdrop for many TV shows and movies, including "North by Northwest" and ''The Cotton Club."

A plan to replace Grand Central with an office tower sparked a campaign by the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and others to have it declared a landmark. This photo's from a 1975 news conference featuring several prominent supporters of the landmark, from left: architect Philip Johnson, Onassis, beauty-queen-turned-political-activist Bess Myerson and Ed Koch, the former New York mayor who died Friday, Feb. 1.

Built by the Vanderbilts, railroad barons and industrialists who were among America's richest and most powerful families, track entrances are adorned by acorns and oak leaf clusters, the family's symbols.

A woman checks the board for her train's departure time after purchasing a railway ticket at Grand Central.

It's been a well-kept secret that the departure times on the board in Grand Central Terminal's main concourse are posted one minute earlier than the trains actually leave to ensure passengers board in time for the train's departure.

Passengers disembark from a Metro-North Railroad car after it pulled into Grand Central.

The facade of Grand Central, as shown from 41st street and Park Avenue in New York.

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Grand Central, the country's most famous train station and once in danger of being demolished, is celebrating its 100th birthday with events throughout 2013.

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