John Pierpont Morgan purchased the brownstone house at 219 Madison Avenue in 1880 for $225,000. The property was located within the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan and originally contained four separate residences built by members of the Phelps Stokes/Dodge merchant family.
Charles McKim of the firm McKim, Mead & White designed the main library building. Construction began in April 1903 with workers laying the foundation early that same year before completing the structure in 1906.
The collection grew to over 1,100 illuminated manuscripts by the 21st century after counting 560 items in 1923. Belle da Costa Greene served as librarian for more than four decades starting around 1905 while focusing on acquiring objects created before the 16th century.
Officials agreed to open the library to general public visitors in December 1942. Prior to this date access remained limited because one soiled thumb could undo nine hundred years of work and only ten scholars could enter simultaneously.
A $106 million renovation project reopened the museum on the 29th of April 2006 following a major construction effort. Workers excavated nearly 70 feet into Manhattan bedrock to create underground storage rooms containing much of the collection.