| New York City's
prime attraction from the earliest European settlements through the
centuries to today is its ideal geographical location; it isn't just
another seaport, - it is one of the world's best seaports. New York's
early seaport activity centered on the lower East side - on the East
River. By the start of the 19th century, this area, which had become known
as South Street, had become a virtual city within a city. South Street was
the "Street of Ships."
But the world changes. Ships kept
getting larger and larger until the East River could no longer accommodate
many of them and the activity moved to the other side of Manhattan. The
Fulton Market was left as about the only economically productive activity.
And so another century passed. Then interest in the area was revived;
history is important to New Yorkers and efforts were undertaken to restore
the area. Coble stones had been covered with asphalt; now the asphalt was
torn up and the streets repaved with old-fashioned cobblestones. Many of
the buildings still stood (some barely). Major restoration efforts brought
South Street back. |
The old Fulton
Market, decayed beyond help, was rebuilt, a company from Maryland rebuilt
'Pier 17' and, today, we have a new pier supporting a beautiful, 3-story
glass-and-steel pavilion containing a variety of unique retail
establishments and restaurants and featuring a spectacular view of the
East River and Brooklyn. Even a new 32,000 square foot convention center
has been added. This is not just history; it is history in the making.
But history is still in the forefront of
all this activity. In 1967, Peter and Norma Stanford, created the South
Street Seaport Maritime Museum. They assembled one of the largest fleets
of historic ships in the hemisphere, e.g., the 1908 lightship Ambrose
which is a National Historic Landmark and the 4-masted, 347-foot cargo
vessel Peking which now sits proudly as this historic fleet's most
prominent ship.
You will enjoy a visit to the web site
of the South Street Seaport Museum -
www.southstseaport.org
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