Central Park West entrance

Rose Center for Earth and Space

Full scale model of Tyrannosaurus Rex

Museum of Natural History

The American Museum of Natural History, located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan at West 79th Street and Central Park West, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world. The Museum comprises 25 interconnected buildings that house 46 permanent exhibition halls, research laboratories, and its renowned library.

The Museum was founded in 1869, but was not situated at it's present location until 1877. The original Victorian Gothic building, which was opened in 1877, was designed by Calvert Vaux and J. Wrey Mould who were closely identified with the architecture of Central Park. It was soon eclipsed by the south range of the Museum, which extends 700 feet along West 77th Street with corner towers 150 feet tall. The Hayden Planetarium, connected to the Museum, is now part of the Rose Center for Earth and Space, housed in a glass cube containing the spherical Space Theater.


The Museum's collection contains over 150 million specimens, of which only a small fraction can be displayed at any given time. Among the Museum's features are dioramas of African, Asian and North American mammal habitats , a full-size, 94 ft. long model of a Blue Whale suspended in the Milstein Family Hall of Ocean Life, a life size model of Tyrannosaurus Rex and a Brontosaurus composed of real fossils, a 62 foot  Haida carved and painted war canoe from the Pacific Northwest, a massive 31 ton piece of the Cape York meteorite, and the "Star of India", the largest star sapphire in the world.

Hours of Operation:
Open daily, 10:00 a.m.—5:45 p.m.
(Closed Thanksgiving and Christmas)

Suggested General Admission, (which supports the Museum's scientific and educational endeavors and includes 45 Museum halls and the Rose Center for Earth and Space):

Adults:  $16.00
Children (2-12):  $9.00
Senior/Student with ID:  $12.00

How to get there:
* Subway

81 Street-Museum of Natural History / Central Park West

Useful Links:
http://www.amnh.org