Here's how the Times Square ball — which used to be made of iron and wood — has evolved over its 111-year history

• The US celebrates New Year's Eve by watching the Times Square ball drop, but that ball hasn't always looked the same. 
• The tradition started in 1907, and the ball was originally made of iron and wood. 
• After six redesigns, today's ball weighs 11,875 pounds, is made of LED lights, and is adorned with crystals. 

While some countries set off fireworks and smash plates to welcome the new year, the US turns to Times Square to celebrate New Year's Eve. 

The Times Square ball drop has been a tradition for over a century and has always symbolized new beginnings and a fresh start. But the ball itself has changed dramatically over its 111-year history. It once weighed a mere 150 pounds, but now clocks in at an astonishing 11,875 pounds. 

Keep reading to learn how the Times Square ball has changed over time while the tradition has stayed alive. 

Before dropping a ball in Times Square, people would gather downtown at a church to ring bells.

Prior to the 1900s, Americans celebrated the new year by gathering outside Trinity Church near Wall Street in Manhattan. When the clock struck midnight, bells would chime and people celebrated the new year on the steps of the church. The church's bells would "ring out the old, ring in the new."

Everything changed when The New York Times Company moved uptown to 46th Street and Broadway. As a way to lure more people uptown, the company started a fireworks display on New Year's Eve.

The first Times Square ball dropped in 1907 and was made of iron and wood.

Times Square was becoming a popular place for New Year's Eve celebrations. But when fireworks were banned in 1907, publisher Adolph Ochs had to come up with a new plan. He decided to use a maritime tradition of timekeeping, which involves dropping a ball at a certain time to help mariners know their time and location. 

Times Square's first ball — which was made from iron and wood — measured 5 feet in diameter and weighed a whopping 700 pounds. An immigrant metalworker named Jacob Starr designed the ball and adorned it with 100 light bulbs. Starr's company Artkraft Strauss was in charge of lowering the ball at the stroke of midnight with an elaborate pulley system. When it dropped for the first time in 1907, it started a tradition that still happens over 100 years later. 

In 1920, the ball was redesigned and made of wrought iron.

At the start of the roaring '20s, a less heavy ball replaced the original iron and wood one. The new ball weighed 400 pounds and was made of wrought iron, according to the Times Square Alliance.