5. The New-York Historical Society Moved Around A Lot

nyhs locations-nyc-untapped citiesThe 7 previous N-YHS locations. Image via N-YHS

The New-York Historical Society has only been in its current building on Central Park West since 1908. Before that it moved around quite a lot, changing locations seven times before construction began for 170 Central Park West in 1902. It’s first home was at City Hall in Lower Manhattan until 1809. Next, it moved to Bowling Green to the Government House (no longer standing), which was originally constructed as the house of the President of the United States when New York was the temporary capital. The map above gives a nice visual of where the museum and library moved. The second to last location, or the seventh was along Second Avenue, on the southeast corner of 11th street, pictured below.

The New-York Historical Society moved uptown to the Upper West Side because of much needed space for the growing collection. Construction of 170 Central Park West broke ground the same year the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened its doors on Fifth Avenue in 1902.