New-York Historical Society

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  • Address
    2 W 77th St at Central Park West, Upper West Side
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  • Phone
    212 873 3400
  • Website
  • Transport
    underground rail: 1 to 79th St, B, C to 81st St-Museum of Natural History

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Lonely Planet review

As the antiquated, hyphenated name implies, the New-York Historical Society is the city's oldest museum, founded in 1804 to preserve the city's historical and cultural artifacts. It was New York's only public art museum until the Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in the late 1800s. Though it's often overlooked, it shouldn't be, as its collection is as quirky and fascinating as NYC itself. It often hosts unique special exhibits

Only here can you see 17th-century cowbells, baby rattles and the mounted wooden leg of Gouverneur Morris. The Henry Luce III Center for the Study of American Culture, which opened in 2000, is a 21,000-sq-ft showcase of more than 40,000 objects from the museum's permanent collection, and features fine portraits, Tiffany lamps and model ships. Recent examples of unique special exhibits include 'Slavery in New York' and 'Nature and the American Vision: the Hudson River School at the New-York Historical Society.'