South Street Seaport Museum

12 Fulton Street | also 89 South Street | Financial District | built 1980

Open on the map4 entries

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

1. 1811

   Peter Schermerhorn builds a row of counting houses on new landfill

   Merchant Peter Schermerhorn erected the row of brick counting houses in 1811 and 1812 on land newly filled at the foot of Fulton Street. Built like a row of houses, with Flemish-bond brickwork and slate roofs, they served as shipping offices during New York's maritime boom. After the Civil War, storefronts were cut into the ground floors and the upper stories became hotels and boarding houses.

   Source: Ephemeral New York

2. 1967

   Peter and Norma Stanford found the South Street Seaport Museum

   The Stanfords had organized Friends of South Street in 1966 to save the historic waterfront blocks from redevelopment, and the South Street Seaport Museum formally convened the following year. The museum began acquiring historic ships and restoring the Schermerhorn Row buildings, including this one.

   Source: Wikipedia

3. 1969

   May 15

   Restoration begins on the first Schermerhorn Row building

   On May 15, 1969, work started on restoring the first of the Schermerhorn Row buildings for the young museum. By the early 1970s the growing institution ran exhibit halls, a bookstore-gallery, two piers, and a fleet of six historic ships.

   Source: Wikipedia

4. 2011

   The museum closes owing $3 million in back rent, then reopens in 2012

   Financial trouble forced the South Street Seaport Museum to close in March 2011 after falling roughly $3 million behind on rent. A $2 million grant from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation allowed it to reopen in January 2012.

   Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

• The “counting houses” of Schermerhorn RowEphemeral New York
• “View at New Amsterdam,” 1665Ephemeral New York
• Another day on Avenue B and 14th StreetEphemeral New York

Nearby

• Schermerhorn Row, No. 8 Fulton Street8 Fulton Street | 3 entries
• 195 Front Street (Schermerhorn Row)195 Front Street | 5 entries
• 193 Front Street Building193 Front Street | 4 entries
• Schermerhorn Row16 Fulton Street | 4 entries
• 191 Front Street3 entries
• Schermerhorn Row, No. 6 Fulton Street6 Fulton Street | 3 entries

All 276 buildings with stories in Financial District