South Street Seaport National Maritime Museum

Designated by Congress as America's National Maritime Museum in 1998, South Street Seaport Museum is situated in a 12-block historic district on the East River in Lower Manhattan, near the original site of what is now the largest port on the Atlantic Coast of the United States. Located in New York City's largest concentration of restored 19th century commercial buildings, the Museum encompasses more than 30,000 square feet of exhibit space and educational facilities. Highlights of the Museum include exhibition galleries (including newly-renovated spaces within Schermerhorn Row, a block of early 19th century countinghouses that functioned as New York City's first center for world trade), a working recreation of a 19th century Print Shop, an archeology museum, a Maritime Craft Center, the largest privately-owned fleet of historic ships in the country, the largest collection of Ocean-Liner memorabilia in the world, and the world's third-largest collection of scrimshaw.

The museum provides educational programming for youth, and museum-based learning opportunities to widely diverse audiences, including 25,000 public school students annually, from all ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.

The Museum occupies a 12-square-block historic district on the East River in Lower Manhattan, the site of the city's original port. It comprises more than 30,000 square feet of exhibition galleries, public, and classroom space housed in New York City's largest concentration of restored early 19th-Century commercial buildings, including:

• A fleet of eight historic ships
• A working 19th century printing shop, including a major collection of historical printing presses, type fonts and tools
• A maritime library and crafts center
• A marine life conservation lab
• An off-site archeology center used to teach students about the first settlements in New York