NEWSLETTER
New York, N.Y. - Today, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, the South Street Seaport Museum will unveil the first rotation of objects in its acclaimed exhibition, Maritime City. This update will introduce 55 newly installed artifacts from the Museum’s collections and archives, offering fresh insights into New York City’s rich maritime history. seaportmuseum.org/maritime-
Spanning three floors, Maritime City features 540 carefully selected items that reveal how New York’s identity as a global capital of culture and commerce is deeply rooted in its origins as a seaport. With this rotation, visitors will encounter a wide range of materials—from intricately crafted ship models and rare China Trade goods to oil paintings, scrimshaw, early 20th century photographs, and hand-colored prints—that reflect the depth and diversity of the Museum’s collections.
New Objects on display starting May 21,2025
Lightship Ambrose, 1988
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The Great East River Bridge with Entrance from New York Side, ca. 1883
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Bird’s Eye View of the City and County of New-York with Environs, ca. 1840
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The Ferry at Brooklyn, New York, ca. 1838
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Queensboro Bridge under construction, 1906
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Launch of the Sea Steamer Great Republic, November 24, 1886
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Launch of the Armored Cruiser Maine at the Brooklyn Navy-Yard, November 29, 1890 collectionsonline.
Castle Garden, 1856
Ship Surgeon's Instrument Case, ca. 1831-1837
SS Amsterdam Passenger List, February 10, 1894
Silhouette portraits of Ethel T. Daly and Norman Kush, 1944
Narwhal Figurine, n.d.
About South Street Seaport Museum Admission Tickets
Regular admission to the Seaport Museum is $18 for adults, $15 for seniors and students, and $5 for children under the age of 18. Admission for Seaport Museum members is free. Explore more that the Museum has to offer, book in advance or ask Museum staff about admission tickets, available Wednesday through Sunday from 11am to 5pm when you check in. Museum admission tickets grant access to the 1885 tall ship Wavertree and 1908 lightship Ambrose at Pier 16 as well as all current exhibitions on view in the introduction galleries inside Schermerhorn Row located at 12 Fulton Street. Admission tickets also include entry to the new Maritime City exhibition in A.A. Thomson & Co. located at 213 Water Street. seaportmuseum.org/admission
More About the Exhibition
Housed within the historic A.A. Thomson & Co. building—a historical artifact in its own right—Maritime City showcases a wide range of objects from the Museum’s collections of 80,000 works of art, historical artifacts, and archival records representing a wide range of time periods, themes, and materials. Objects on view include long-held artifacts and archival materials not previously seen by the public, alongside recent acquisitions that highlight the present and future of the Museum’s collecting. With such a wide array of items on view, this all-ages exhibition promises something for everyone.
Highlights within this expansive exhibition include:
- The 22-foot long 1935 builder model of the celebrated ocean liner RMS Queen Mary
- Paintings by the renowned maritime painters James Edward Buttersworth, Antonio Jacobsen, and Gordon Grant
- Unusually large turn-of-the-century glass plate negatives by the photography studio of George P. Hall & Son—including one of the fireworks display for the opening of the Williamsburg Bridge
- A rare surviving wheel from the French ocean liner SS Normandie
- Recently acquired items such as a contemporary fine art photograph by artist Jeremy Dennis, an enrolled Tribal Member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, and more to come and explore.
- Fascinating miniatures and uniquely small artifacts that create a “Corner of Curiosities”
Also on view are examples of archeology that has been excavated from areas in the South Street Seaport Historic District and Lower Manhattan, and historical and modern views of New York from the 1600s to today. These include artworks that document milestones in New York history such as the physical expansion of the land in Lower Manhattan at the turn of the 19th century, the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883, the dedication of the Statue of Liberty in 1886, and the containerization of the Port of New York and New Jersey in the mid-20th century. Just as the history of New York is a combination of stories, Maritime City employs artifacts to highlight the historic mosaic of a global metropolis born from its connections to the sea.
Additionally, Maritime City features educational items that invite you to get hands-on with history. Across all three floors, visitors of all ages are invited to further engage with the exhibition through interactive features designed to captivate every interest to better understand how New York City was formed by its oceanic links to the world.
Visitors are invited to:
- Open flat file drawers to uncover historical arts and crafts techniques, including technical drawings and ship plans, letterpress broadsides, lithographs, and wood engravings and discover the tools used to create these fascinating pieces
- Use stereographic viewers to see how people experienced places around the globe in the 19th century
- Touch and feel select artifacts such as Dutch-era bricks and oyster shells from the teaching collection of the Museum
- Explore items from the archives and special collections of the Museum that are too fragile for display, through video displays and touch screens
About A.A. Thomson & Co. Warehouse
This Italianate cast iron and stone warehouse, located at 213–215 Water Street, was designed by the renowned New York City architect Stephen D. Hatch (1839–1894) in 1868 for Alexander and William A. Thomson of A.A. Thomson & Co.. Before the structure was built, this lot was occupied by two three-story buildings, originally part of a 1750 water lot grant, on what would have been considered one of the principal streets in New York City.
Working with the celebrated preservation architecture firm Beyer Blinder Belle, the Seaport Museum is transforming the historic 12,000-square-foot warehouse into a large-scale exhibition space, a hub for engaging educational programming, and a gathering space for the community. Once renovated, the building, which has not been updated in decades, will include a new climate control system, systems hardened against flooding, an elevator, and full accessibility to welcome all visitors into previously inaccessible space on “little” Water Street. At the Building Rededication Ceremony for the warehouse in October 2024, the Museum rededicated the historic warehouse to a renewed purpose, converting this former industrial space to an education venue, welcoming all to see themselves reflected in the Museum. seaportmuseum.org/
About the South Street Seaport Museum
The South Street Seaport Museum, located in the heart of the historic seaport district in New York City, preserves and interprets the history of New York as a great port city. Founded in 1967, the Museum houses an extensive collection of works of art and artifacts, a maritime reference library, exhibition galleries and education spaces, working 19th century print shops, and an active fleet of historic vessels that all work to tell the story of “Where New York Begins.” seaportmuseum.org
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Press Contact: Michelle Tabnick, 646-765-4773, michelle@michelletabnickpr.com