Best History Museums in New York
6 history museums in New York
History, natural history, transport and themed museums.
Editorial oversight by James Morgan. AI-assisted, human-edited. Our editorial standards
History Museums
American Museum of Natural History
Manhattan, New York
Forty-five exhibition halls of dinosaurs, a blue whale and the cosmos, right beside Central Park, one of the world's great natural-history museums.
History Museums
New York Transit Museum
Brooklyn, New York
Climb aboard vintage subway cars inside a real decommissioned 1936 station in Brooklyn.
History Museums
Madame Tussauds New York
Manhattan, New York
Pose with 200-plus lifelike wax stars, from Taylor Swift to the Ghostbusters, in Times Square.
History Museums
Museum of the Moving Image
Queens, New York
Go behind the scenes of film and TV, from script to screen, in Astoria.
History Museums
City Island Nautical Museum & Seaside Day
The Bronx, New York
Discover City Island's seafaring past, from oyster boomtown to a century of boat building, in a small weekend museum.
History Museums
Queens County Farm Museum
Queens, New York
Working farmland dating to 1697, the city's longest continually farmed site.
More about history museums in New York
New York has 6 history museums we would happily take our own kids to. American Museum of Natural History is the one most families start with. Forty-five exhibition halls of dinosaurs, a blue whale and the cosmos, right beside Central Park, one of the world's great natural-history museums. City Island Nautical Museum & Seaside Day is the other name that comes up again and again. Discover City Island's seafaring past, from oyster boomtown to a century of boat building, in a small weekend museum. Madame Tussauds New York rounds out the pick of the bunch. Pose with 200-plus lifelike wax stars, from Taylor Swift to the Ghostbusters, in Times Square. Also worth your time: New York Transit Museum, Museum of the Moving Image and Queens County Farm Museum.
Published prices run from $8 at City Island Nautical Museum & Seaside Day up to $37 at American Museum of Natural History. 4 of the 6 listed here quote a starting price. The others vary by season or by what you add on, so check before you travel.
The history museums on this page are spread across Manhattan (2), Queens (2), Brooklyn (1) and The Bronx (1), so it is easy to pair two into one trip.