South Street Seaport Museum to Present New Objects In Maritime City Exhibition

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.

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

collectionsonline.seaportmuseum.org/artobject-detail/?dataId=941224

The Great East River Bridge with Entrance from New York Side, ca. 1883

collectionsonline.seaportmuseum.org/artobject-detail/?dataId=940474

Bird's Eye View of the City and County of New-York with Environs, ca. 1840

collectionsonline.seaportmuseum.org/artobject-detail/?dataId=935048

The Ferry at Brooklyn, New York, ca. 1838

collectionsonline.seaportmuseum.org/artobject-detail/?dataId=944954

Queensboro Bridge under construction, 1906

collectionsonline.seaportmuseum.org/artobject-detail/?dataId=2094220

Launch of the Sea Steamer Great Republic, November 24, 1886

collectionsonline.seaportmuseum.org/artobject-detail/?dataId=946597

Launch of the Armored Cruiser Maine at the Brooklyn Navy-Yard, November 29, 1890

collectionsonline.seaportmuseum.org/artobject-detail/?dataId=931054

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.

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.

• 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 screen