American Museum of Natural History

This article is about the museum in New York City. For the museum in Washington, D.C., see National Museum of Natural History.
Not to be confused with the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C..

American Museum of Natural History
Facade of the east entrance from Central Park West
EstablishedApril 6, 1869 (1869-04-06)[1]
Location200 Central Park West
New York, N.Y. 10024
United States
Coordinates40°46′51″N 73°58′28″W / 40.78083°N 73.97444°W / 40.78083; -73.97444
TypePrivate 501(c)(3) organization
Natural history museum
Visitors5 million (2018)[2]
PresidentSean M. Decatur[3]
Public transit accessNew York City Bus:
M7, M10, M11, M79
New York City Subway:
​ trains at 81st Street–Museum of Natural History
train at 79th Street
Websitewww.amnh.org
American Museum of Natural History
New York City Landmark
Built1874 (1874)
NRHP reference No.76001235[4]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJune 24, 1976
Designated NYCLAugust 24, 1967

The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City.[5] Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconnected buildings housing 45 permanent exhibition halls, in addition to a planetarium and a library. The museum collections contain about 32 million specimens[6] of plants, animals, fungi, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains, and human cultural artifacts, as well as specialized collections for frozen tissue and genomic and astrophysical data, of which only a small fraction can be displayed at any given time. The museum occupies more than 2,500,000 sq ft (232,258 m2). AMNH has a full-time scientific staff of 225, sponsors over 120 special field expeditions each year,[7] and averages about five million visits annually.[8]

The AMNH is a private 501(c)(3) organization.[5] The naturalist Albert S. Bickmore devised the idea for the American Museum of Natural History in 1861, and, after several years of advocacy, the museum opened within Central Park's Arsenal on May 22, 1871. The museum's first purpose-built structure in Theodore Roosevelt Park was designed by Calvert Vaux and J. Wrey Mould and opened on December 22, 1877. Numerous wings have been added over the years, including the main entrance pavilion (named for Theodore Roosevelt) in 1936 and the Rose Center for Earth and Space in 2000.

  1. ^ "History 1869–1900". AMNH. Archived from the original on January 24, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  2. ^ "TEA-AECOM 2018 Theme Index and Museum Index: The Global Attractions Attendance Report" (PDF). Themed Entertainment Association. pp. 62–77. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 12, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT: AMNH Names New Chief was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "NPS Focus". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
  5. ^ a b "American Museum of Natural History". Charity Navigator. Archived from the original on February 4, 2022. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  6. ^ "Dioramas at the Museum: Millions of Specimens in Context". Archived from the original on October 29, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  7. ^ "American Museum of Natural History – Overview and Programs". Archived from the original on February 16, 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
  8. ^ "No. 7 American Museum of Natural History, New York City". Travel + Leisure. Archived from the original on May 12, 2014. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
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