HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM 
The 
Building. 
The General 
Design. 
Discussion 
as to Site. 
of citizens made up of what was best and most valuable in New York 
society. The petition begged for an appropriation sufficient to begin 
the building of an Art and of a Scientific Museum, and the unanimity 
of the appeal and its extraordinary strength brought almost instant 
acquiescence to this request. 
The Legislature responded to this appeal, and passed an act 
authorizing the Department of Parks to contract for, erect, and main- 
tain in and upon that portion of the Central Park formerly known as 
Manhattan Square, or any other public park, square or place in said 
city, a suitable fireproof building for the purpose of establishing and 
maintaining therein, under rules and regulations to be prescribed by 
the said Board from time to time, a museum of natural history to be 
occupied by the American Museum of Natural History. 
Steps were taken to grade Manhattan Square and to prepare it for 
the erection of the building. It is interesting to note that the original 
committee, in preparing a report containing preliminary recommenda- 
tions as a basis for the designs, was instructed to consider both the 
Metropolitan Museum and the American Museum. The preliminary 
preparatory stages toward the submission of designs for the new 
building were entered upon in earnest. Meetings of the Trustees were 
convened for a discussion of the location of the new building, and 
inspection trips were taken through the Park to consider this important 
question in detail. At first there was an evident impression that the 
site should be near the Menagerie or Zoological Gardens, that is, near 
the Arsenal. The first position offered for the American Museum 
was the site subsequently allotted to the Museum of Art. A special 
Committee on Site, composed of Messrs. Hainee, Jesup, and Stuart, 
was finally appointed to confer with the Department of Parks with 
reference to selecting a site for the new building, either within Central 
Park, Reservoir Square, or Manhattan Square. Thus the sites of the 
Metropolitan Museum of Art and of the New York Public Library 
were both originally considered by the American Museum, and we 
must regard it as a most fortunate circumstance that both were re- 
jected and that Manhattan Square was finally chosen. This, however, 
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