EarthCam has released two commemorative films documenting the transformation of Ground Zero and Lower Manhattan in the 25 years since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Watch the full time-lapse video above to see the World Trade Center site’s evolution from the aftermath of the attacks to the skyline of today.
The company’s new time-lapse uses images captured from multiple camera vantage points, beginning with footage from a live-streaming camera installed just days after the attacks. The film follows the site’s recovery, rebuilding and redevelopment through 2026.
EarthCam founder and CEO Brian Cury said he installed a camera overlooking Ground Zero to support rescue and recovery efforts in the days after 9/11. The company continued documenting the area as its purpose shifted from recovery to reconstruction.
Over the past quarter-century, EarthCam says it has assembled an archive of more than 14.7 million images from the site, averaging more than one photograph per minute.
“We arrived at Ground Zero because we believed our technology could help, and we stayed because we understood how important it was to preserve this history,” said Brian Cury, Founder and CEO of EarthCam. “For a quarter of a century, our cameras have borne witness to an extraordinary story of recovery, renewal and rebuilding. Visually documenting the most important 16 acres in America is one of the greatest responsibilities and privileges in EarthCam’s 30-year history.”
The time-lapse opens with some of EarthCam’s earliest images from Sept. 11, 2001, then tracks the construction of the World Trade Center complex and other landmarks that now define Lower Manhattan.
EarthCam is also premiering a short documentary, “We Never Left,” in which Cury recounts the company’s early involvement at Ground Zero and its decision to remain there for decades.
The films arrive as the nation marks 25 years since the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people and permanently changed New York City, the country and the world.