New Objects Coming to the Maritime City Exhibition at the South Street Seaport Museum

On Wednesday September 24 2025 the South Street Seaport Museum will unveil a new 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. http://seaportmuseum.org/maritime-city

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 September 24 2025

New Museum acquisitions such as:

One of ten ink drawings by artist Harriet Finck

A decorative tankard from the Gilded Age that belonged to the famous Alice Vanderbilt Morris

In collaboration with Works on Water 2025 Triennial the Seaport Museum has added three contemporary Water Art pieces on view interspersed throughout the exhibition as an intervention and reaction to the Museum’s collection. These works are on loan to the Museum by artists Sarah Cameron Sunde and Mary Mattingly as well as the Works on Water artists’ collective

On the first floor key artifacts that will be now on display include:

A photographic print by Barbara Mensch depicting the interior of Paris Cafe

A painting by Gordon Grant depicting a clipper ship by South Street and the Brooklyn Bridge

A ship model depicting the first American sail and steam paddle ship that crossed the Atlantic Ocean the Savannah

A selection of bricks that are the foundation of much of today's New York City

About South Street Seaport Museum

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 Cityshowcases a wide range of objects from the Museum’s collections of 80000 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.

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

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 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. 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-thomson

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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Host or Publisher Michelle Tabnick PR