The Garden

This is the mecca — so when you enter for the first time, embrace that moment of hesitation as you gaze up at the famed copper-spoked ceiling. Yes, you're supposed to be in awe.

There is a reason why it is called "the World's Most Famous Arena." It has hosted some of the greatest events in sports and entertainment, from Frazier and Ali to John Lennon and Elton John, and, of course, the Stanley Cup Finals.

But when it comes to basketball, this is the game's biggest stage. This is where all of the greats come to make their mark before the most discerning fans in the world.

"This is the mecca of basketball," NBA MVP LeBron James has said about the Garden. "A lot of things have happened in this building. There is great history, and the fans have seen a lot. This is, like Kobe [Bryant] said, the last building that's still alive ... I honestly feel like you go on stage rather than on a basketball court."

"There's no way," he added, "that this could be just another building."

It's not just a building or even a location. It's a landmark venue that, in New York, has been simply known as the Garden for well over a century. It has been in four different locations around Manhattan since the first Madison Square Garden was opened in 1874. That first location actually was an open-air venue located at Madison Square (Madison Avenue and 26 Street), with 28-foot walls surrounding it on all sides.

But it wasn't called Madison Square Garden. It was actually first known as Barnum's Monster Classical and Geological Hippodrome. P.T. Barnum, the legendary showman and the Garden's first owner, must have been a man beside himself with humility.

The name didn't stick (thankfully) once it was auctioned to a bandmaster named Patrick S. Gilmore, who renamed it Gilmore's Garden. Why "Garden?" During that period, garden was a term used to describe a gathering place. There was no NBA — there wasn't even basketball yet (Dr. James Naismith wouldn't invent the game until 1891) — so this Garden was better known for boxing matches, horse shows, and other exhibitions.

The Garden changed owners a few times before railroad tycoon William Vanderbilt took over in 1878 and renamed it Madison Square Garden on May 31, 1879. It lasted until 1889, when it was demolished and replaced with a new venue that included an 8,000-seat arena, a 1,500-seat concert hall, a 1,200-seat theater, and the world's largest indoor swimming pool. (Yes, a pool!)

This was the architectural brainchild of the great Stanford White, who, as fate would have it, was murdered on his prized venue's rooftop garden by a jealous husband who learned of his wife's affair with White.

The Garden's glory years at Madison Square ended in 1925 (the New York Life Insurance building, its gold pyramidal gilded roof well known in the famous Manhattan skyline, has since held the place), but the name was carried over to the new location on the west side at 49th Street and Eighth Avenue.

This next version of the Garden, known now as the Old Garden, was an 18,000-seat arena that opened in November 1925 with a six-day bicycle race. This was promoter Tex Rickard's dream. He's the founding father of the NHL's New York Rangers, who have been a cotenant of the Knicks since this Garden opened.

With its famous classic marquee glowing Madison Sq Garden and listing the events in block letters, it is there on 49th and Eighth where the Knicks first called the Garden home and basketball — especially the college game — became the main showcase. The Knicks played their first game at MSG on November 11, 1946, a 78–68 loss to the Chicago Stags. The last game came February 10, 1968, a 115–97 win over Philadelphia.

The current Garden opened February 11, 1968, eight years after it was originally proposed by then-Garden president Irving Mitchell Felt, and at yet another location: over Penn Station in the area between 33rd and 31st Streets and Seventh and Eighth Avenues.

The place is a treasured New York landmark, but truth be told, this "new" Garden was met with some heavy resistance when the plans were originally introduced. Though it was the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which owned Penn Station, who sold the "air rights" to construction above the station...