Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
Moments in a longer story.
Selected milestones in the history of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
On this page
Founding, buildings and collection
These dates describe the place you can learn about here. They are not a company timeline for Apollonaut.
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13 April 1870
The museum is founded
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is established in New York.
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20 February 1872
First opening
The museum opens to the public at 681 Fifth Avenue.
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1880
A home by Central Park
The museum moves into the first section of its present building, designed by Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould.
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1910
The Fifth Avenue wings
McKim, Mead & White complete the wings on either side of the Hunts’ Fifth Avenue façade.
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1938
The Cloisters
The Met Cloisters, in Fort Tryon Park, is completed for the museum’s medieval collection.
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1965
A gift from Egypt
Egypt gives the Temple of Dendur to the United States.
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27 September 1978
The temple opens
The Temple of Dendur opens to the public in its new glass-walled wing.
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1986
National Historic Landmark
The museum’s main building is designated a National Historic Landmark.
Follow the stories behind the dates
A timeline is a beginning. The longer history introduces the people and places; the sources below provide further context.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
