A stunning new exhibition is open at the South Street Seaport Museum.
Maritime City, spanning three floors of the newly restored 1868 A. A. Thomson & Co. warehouse contains a superb collection of 540 of the gems from the Museum’s vast collections and archives. As downtown residents know, the Seaport Museum, located in the heart of the historic seaport district in New York City, preserves and interprets the rich sea-connected history of New York, a city and its people. The Museum houses an extensive collection of works of art and artifacts, a maritime reference library, exhibition galleries and education spaces, a working 19th century letterpress print shop, and an active fleet of historic vessels that all work to tell the story of “Where New York Begins.”
Housed in the historical A.A. Thomson & Co. warehouse visitors entering the extensive exhibition are first welcomed into a light-filled gallery with original architectural features––exposed timber columns and charming brick walls––and an impressive selection of engaging objects illuminating New York and its people through a maritime lens. The unique exhibition design across all three floors honors and elevates the warehouse itself as an artifact in its own right. Custom-crafted display cases are inspired by the 19th-century wooden crates that would have been an everyday sight along South Street.
Photo courtesy South Street Seaport Museum.
The first-floor gallery can be enjoyed by those touring the exhibition as well as those attending occasional evening public programs in the space, such as lectures, book talks, and parties. The second and third floors feature more objects on display in free-standing and wall-mounted cases. Highlights include a 22-foot-long builder model of the iconic 1935 RMS Queen Mary; a display showcasing a rotating selection of pieces from the Museum’s prized collection of scrimshaw; a majestic painting of a ship in a storm by renowned maritime painter James Edward Buttersworth; six uniquely-large glass plate negatives by the photography studio of George P. Hall & Son, including a view of the fireworks for the 1903 opening of Williamsburg Bridge; a rare surviving (fire-damaged) wheel from the esteemed French ocean liner SS Normandie; and recently-acquired items such as a contemporary fine art photograph by artist Jeremy Dennis, an enrolled Tribal Member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation.
For those who haven’t been to the Seaport recently, the Museum is enjoying a renaissance; rapidly growing visitorship, restored buildings and ships, a robust roster of public programs, and, of course, the active fleet of historic ships that take visitors of all ages, including school students, on voyages in New York Harbor. A visit to the Seaport Museum today (open Wednesday through Sunday, from 11am to 5pm) invites visitors to see the new Maritime City exhibition, the Bowne & Co. letterpress printing office next door, tours of historic ships, and with the variety of local restaurants an opportunity to make a day of it. 12 Fulton Street, southstreetseaportmuseum.org.
Reposted from DOWNTOWN Summer 2025 issue.