Not The MoMA, Not The American Museum Of Natural History: This Is New York City's Oldest Museum

New York City is often celebrated as the cultural heart of the U.S. This dynamic East Coast metropolis is bursting with world-renowned galleries, museums, and cultural institutions that draw millions of annual visitors to marvel at extraordinary achievements of creativity, innovation, and history. Vaunted institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MOMA) and the American Museum of Natural History showcase artistic masterpieces, extraordinary exhibitions, and historical artifacts that reinforce why New York City's museums are among the most celebrated in the world. While these museums are inextricable from the quintessential fabric of New York City, there's one Big Apple museum that has been around longer than the rest. Established in 1804, The New York Historical is the city's oldest museum, and it's filled with riveting mementos of history.

Installed inside a stately Beaux-Arts building on Manhattan's tony Upper West Side, The New York Historical comprises a collection of 1.6 million works spanning over 400 years. A history buff's dream come true, the museum houses a trove of historical artifacts, documents, and artworks reflecting significant moments in American history. The New York Historical also serves the community as a hub for research. The Patricia D. Klingenstein Library contains millions of books, photographs, manuscripts, and more covering wide swaths of history from Colonial times up until the present day.

Wondering if it's worth the trek? The museum has a 4.5 rating out of over 720 Google reviews. "As a New Yorker, this has become one of my favorite museums —i it combines fascinating exhibits, a beautiful library, and a rich sense of the city's past. Always a meaningful and inspiring visit," enthused one Google reviewer. Depending on how long you like to linger, allow anywhere between 90 minutes and three hours to peruse the collections and exhibits distributed across the museum's four floors.

As one of America's oldest museums worth visiting, The New York Historical brims with unmissable highlights. A quick scan of the museum's Google reviews reveals that visitors are enamored with the Gallery of Tiffany Lamps located on the museum's top floor. Here, over 100 colorful, illuminated Tiffany Lamps inhabit a dazzlingly-lit space that's replete with interactive elements. Historical highlights include several ongoing exhibits and installations examining the civil rights movement and U.S. politics. One special installation celebrates the vision of Frederick Douglas, while another displays a full-sized replica of the Oval Office. There are also several notable paintings, like watercolors from the Hudson River School, a theater curtain hand-painted by Picasso for the ballet "Le Tricorne," and an eye-catching, black-and-white Keith Haring mural repurposed as ceiling art.

Another unique museum highlight is its Center for Women's History, a pioneering space that explores the role of women in American history through film, art, music, and conferences. Alongside all the fascinating artifacts that make The New York Historical one of the city's great museums for children, it's also home to the DiMenna Children's History Museum. The space brims with interactive displays, special programs, and legions of books meant to captivate history enthusiasts of all ages.

You can catch free museum tours at The New York Historical at 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. every day except Monday, when the museum is closed. To save on regular admission pricing (adult tickets start at $24), visit on Friday evening between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. to take advantage of the "pay as you wish" admission pricing. Art lovers on a budget can save even more money visiting these free and iconic New York museums.