South Street Seaport Museum Announces Archtober 2021 Programming In-Person And Online
Events at the Seaport Museum include free walking tours about the history Lower Manhattan's printing industry, and more.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Oct. 06, 2021
South Street Seaport Museum has announced in-person and online events in partnership with Archtober, New York City's Architecture and Design Month and the annual festival of architecture activities, programs and exhibitions taking place during the month of October. Events at the Seaport Museum include free walking tours about the history Lower Manhattan's printing industry, virtual tours of Schermerhorn Row's landmark buildings, a look inside the 19th century Thompson Warehouse, a virtual tour partnership with Urban Archive, a new release of recently digitized historic architecture elements in the Collections Online Portal, and a corresponding Collections Chronicles blog entry. To learn more, access programs, and reserve tickets, visit seaportmuseum.org/archtober2021.
In-Person
Walking Tour: Typography and Job Printing in the 19th-Century Seaport
In-person | Free | Saturday, October 9 and October 23, 2-3 PM
Join Bowne & Co. Art Director and Operations Manager Rob Wilson for a free, in-person walking tour of the South Street Seaport Historic District to discover where passenger and shipping services printed their tickets and advertisements. Along with being treated to a detailed look at the neighborhood's buildings while learning about the history of Lower Manhattan's printing industry, tour participants will get to see some of that history spring to life during a 19th century printing demonstration at Bowne & Co. Free, but registration required at seaportmuseum.org/att2021.
Current South Street Seaport Museum COVID-19 protocols can be found at seaportmuseum.org/covid-19-updates.
Online
Inside Schermerhorn Row: A Virtual Tour of the Seaport Museum's Landmark Buildings
Anytime activity | Free
Enjoy a special tour of the upper floor of the Seaport Museum headquarters at the 1810-1812 Schermerhorn Row, from the comfort of your home! This free, on-demand tour offers the opportunity to see and learn the history of one of the most significant examples of early 19th century commercial architecture in New York. The upper floors of this New York City Landmark, located within the National Register-listed South Street Seaport Historic District, include architectural remnants of neighborhood history and developments, such as the most renown remains of two 150-year-old hotels, made famous by New Yorker writer Joseph Mitchell's essay titled "Up in the Old Hotel."
Inside Thompson Warehouse: A 19th Century Landmark, Revealed
Anytime activity | Free
Watch layers of history literally peeling back to reveal secrets of this 19th century cast-iron building, spotlighting surprises like cart tracks in the basement, historic construction methods, and the machinery of an early elevator. This special virtual tour is led by South Street Seaport Museum President and CEO Capt. Jonathan Boulware showing and telling the process of renovating the historic Thompson Warehouse, at 215-213 Water Street, in the heart of the South Street Seaport Historic District.
Collections Online Portal - Architecture Elements Highlights
Anytime activity | Free
seaportmuseum.org/collectionsonline
Take a tour through New York City's past with the architectural features preserved at the South Street Seaport Museum by browsing over 100 newly digitized architectural artifacts in our free, online, searchable database. The Museum's collection of architectural elements and building components includes bricks, doors and windows, samples of wallpaper, cast iron and terracotta ornaments, structural ironworks, and more. The objects are examples of the changing physical fabric of New York City, and particularly of Lower Manhattan and the South Street Seaport Historic District. Most of the artifacts belong to different adaptations and style iterations of Schermerhorn Row, a Federal style counting house built between 1810-1812, and home of the Seaport Museum since the 1970s. The remaining artifacts belong to other significant buildings that are no longer extant, including but limited to the 1882 Fulton Market building, the Edgar H. Laing Stores, the Rhinelander Sugar House Building, and more.
Collections Chronicles Blog: "The Writer and the Wrecking Ball"
Anytime activity | Free
As part of the Seaport Museum's Collections Chronicles Blog, where Collections Department staff and interns explore in rich articles and multimedia features the institution's collections and archives, this special blog post by Director of Collection Martina Caruso highlights the connections between one of the Museum's early founding fathers author Joseph Mitchell and the Museum's vast collection of architecture elements. The Seaport Museum began collecting architectural elements in its early days thanks to Mitchell, and its current holdings document New York's significant role in the evolution of American architectural design and the city's ever-evolving urban landscape. Take a virtual stroll from Wall Street to Tribeca and learn about a few bygone structures that live on at the Seaport Museum.
South Street Seaport x Urban Archive: Virtual Walking Tours
Anytime activity | Free
seaportmuseum.org/urbanarchive
Take a walk with us, virtually, and discover the origins of New York's greatness, via Urban Archive, a technology nonprofit that promotes historical research and discovery. You can either come down to South Street, download the app, and follow the walk on your own, or enjoy a virtual tour from the comfort of your own home. Tours include architecture gems of the South Street Seaport Historic District, Lower Manhattan Waterfront, Castle Clinton, and more.
About Archtober
Archtober is New York City's Architecture and Design Month, the annual festival of architecture activities, programs, and exhibitions taking place during the month of October. Visit archtober.org for more information.
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