12. The Museum of Modern Art (1929)

Original location of the MoMA at the Heckscher Building on 5th Avenue (the tall building behind the Vanderbilt mansion). Image from Library of Congress

The Museum of Modern Art opened in 1929 in a rented six-room suite of galleries and offices on the twelfth floor of the Heckscher Building in Midtown. Its location changed 3 times before finally finding its home at its current location in Midtown Manhattan, along with the PS1 extension in Long Island City. It is in the midst of expansion down its block on 53rd Street, a controversial plan that included the demolition of the Folk Art Museum.

For more museum fun, check out:

 Vintage Photographs of 5 Famous NYC Museums in Their Original Incarnations

Vintage Photos: Famous NYC Museums Under Construction

Top 10 Off-the-Radar Museums in NYC

10 More Obscure Museums in NYC

Do you have any museum secrets to share? Get in touch with Anna Brown at her Twitter handle @brooklynbonanza.