Manhattan's skyline as seen from Jersey City, New Jersey, 23 years after the 9/11 attacks.
Gary Hershorn/Getty Images
This year marks the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
The World Trade Center site has become a memorial to the 2,977 lives lost.
Photos from the last 20 years show how New York City rebuilt ground zero.
Each September, two large beams of light reach into the night sky above Manhattan's Financial District in powerful tribute to the towers that once defined the city's skyline.
Wednesday, September 11, marks 23 years since terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger planes, crashing two into New York's Twin Towers and forever changing the city. Another plane hit the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, and the fourth crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers overpowered the hijackers.
In total, 2,977 victims lost their lives and, more than two decades later, their loved ones continue to gather to recite their names at the 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center complex in New York.
Photos show how the attacks changed Manhattan's skyline, and how the Financial District rebuilt ground zero.
A photograph gives an aerial view of the Twin Towers on a peaceful June day in 1999.The Twin Towers in New York City in June 1999.
Associated Press
But that skyline was horrifically altered a little more than two years later.The first plane hit the North Tower at 8:45 a.m.
Associated Press
You can see the stark difference between the top photo, taken on August 30, 2001, and the bottom photo, taken 16 days after the attacks. It would take several months for rescuers to go through the rubble.The attack left lower Manhattan covered in smoke.
Reuters
In December 2003, a design for the new One World Trade Center was finally unveiled.The footprint of the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan, with the Hudson River at left, on September 10, 2004.
Associated Press
In addition to the 1,776-foot-tall One World Trade Center building, the site would come to include four other World Trade Center buildings, a 9/11 Memorial and Museum, the Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center, a WTC Transportation Hub, and Liberty Park.Construction continues in the Financial District in 2003.
A "Tribute in Lights" shone on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks in 2006, where the World Trade Center once stood. The lights still shine in tribute each year on the anniversary.The "Tribute in Lights" shines on the skyline of lower Manhattan in New York, September 11, 2006, as the fifth anniversary is observed.
Reuters
As late as 2007, the site still looked about the same, as construction was hamstrung by lawsuits, budget overruns, design changes, and a recession.The World Trade Center site on August 29, 2007.
In 2009, the 9/11 memorial waterfalls were starting to take shape.The reflecting pools are now the largest manmade waterfalls in North America.
Associated Press
One World Trade Center, also known as the "Freedom Tower," was just starting to rise from the rubble.Cranes at the site on January 27, 2009.
Associated Press
In June 2010, the skyscraper was slowly rising.The building wouldn't be complete until 2014.
Associated Press
By July 2011, the memorial waterfalls were being tested, and One World Trade Center's facade was beginning to reflect the sky.The facade gave tourists and locals a preview of what's to come.
Associated Press
Here's the Manhattan skyline in August 2011. You can see the unfinished tower beginning to peek over the other skyscrapers.The Manhattan skyline is always lit up by skyscrapers.
Associated Press
The memorial waterfalls officially opened in September 2011, and the museum, seen on the right, opened in May 2014.The museum entrance pavilion, right, next to one of the memorial waterfalls on April 14, 2014.
Associated Press
By November 2014, One World Trade Center was complete, as was 4 World Trade Center (left) and 7 World Trade Center (far right). But 3 World Trade Center, seen here with a crane above it, still wasn't finished.3 World Trade Center didn't open until June 2018.
Associated Press
The WTC Transportation Hub, on which the soaring white Oculus was built, was also under construction in late 2014.The WTC Transportation Hub and One World Trade Center as seen from Church Street on October 29, 2014.
Associated Press
The hub officially opened in June 2016, while 3 World Trade Center was still under construction.Construction continues in this June 2016 photo.
Associated Press
The $50 million Liberty Park also opened in June 2016. From there, visitors can get an overhead view of the ground zero memorial.A visitor at the elevated, one-acre Liberty Park on June 29, 2016.
This photo, taken on June 8, 2018, shows 3 World Trade Center, One World Trade Center, 4 World Trade Center, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, and Liberty Park, all finally complete.From left: One World Trade Center, 3 World Trade Center, 4 World Trade Center.
Associated Press
With construction officially complete, the Manhattan skyline is now forever changed.One World Trade Center on June 7, 2018.
Associated Press
Now the tallest building in the US, the gleaming One World Trade Center, pictured in 2020, towers over the Financial District.The Financial District captured from above on September 22, 2020.
Dominik Bindl/Getty Images
This year, the Tribute in Light is again visible on Manhattan's skyline as New York prepares to mark the 23rd anniversary of the attacks.This year's Tribute in Light is seen over the skyline of lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center.
Gary Hershorn/Getty Images
Daniel Brown contributed to an earlier version of this article.
