History of the City of New York - Field Trip 2

South Street Seaport

The group assembled at the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse at Water and Fulton Streets. Built in 1913, the lighthouse, which is a monument to those who perished on the Titanic in 1912, was originally located on South Street. The ships in harbor set their clocks by the ball which would be dropped from the top of the lighthouse at noon.

The Museum Gift Shop on Schermerhorn Row
A tour guide told about the history of the people and buildings in the area. Schermerhorn Row, built in 1811, housed stores with "counting houses" on the second floor - where financial records were kept in the days before computers. These Federal style buildings were owned by the Schermerhorn family until the 1930's.

Fulton Street was named for Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat. In 1812 his ferries began transporting passengers across the East River to Brooklyn Heights, which became a fashionable residential district. Before that, shopowners had lived within walking distance of their places of business. The seaport became a thriving business district and harbor. It attracted sailors, who frequented the bars and brothels in the area.

A descendant of Fulton's Ferry still makes its runs
One of the popular attractions was Kit Burns' "Rat Pit," where weasels and dogs fought rats to the death. Burns paid off local officials to keep the animal protectionists from closing him down, but eventually they caught up with him.

The "Hole in the Wall Club" featured female bouncers who bit off the earlobes of unruly customers.

The Fulton Fish Market was started in 1832 to provide wholesale fresh fish to stores and restaurants around the city. Now housed in a facility on Front Street built in 1907, it came under investigation by Mayor Giuliani in 1994. A mysterious fire broke out on the second floor of the Market, destroying subpoenaed papers. The Mob was suspected of arson. I remember seeing a huge cloud of smoke from the fire from the 7th floor of a court building on Center Street where I was working at the time.

Pier 17 Mall

The Museum in the Low Building featured an exhibit of paintings of the Famine Ships which carried starving Irish immigrants escaping the Great Potato Famine to New York City in the late 1840's. I had just returned from a two-week trip to Ireland the day before. I had learned that over a million people had died as a result of the famine between 1845-1850.

by Diane Raphael

Building designed by Hunt with steel rods between floors for support		The iron-hulled barque Peking		Pier at Fulton market c. 1993

Main Page || Course Requirements || Syllabus || Trip Summaries || NYC Links