About the Museum
Titanic Memorial Lighthouse

Located at the entrace to the Historic Seaport District, the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse is a memorial to the passengers, officers and crew who died as heroes when the steamship Titanic sank after collision with an iceberg on April 15, 1912 at LATITUDE 41° 46' NORTH LONGITUDE 50° 14' WEST The Lighthouse was originally erected by public subscription in 1913, it stood above the East River on the roof of the old Seamen's Church Institute at the corner of South Street and Coenties Slip. From 1913 to 1967, the time ball at the top of the Lighthouse would drop down the pole to signal twelve noon to the ships in the Harbor. This time ball mechanism was activated by a telegraphic signal from the National Observatory in Washington, D.C. In July 1968 the Seamen's Church Institute moved its headquarters. That year The Titanic Memorial Lighthouse was donated by the Kaiser-Nelson Steel & Salvage Corporation to the South Street Seaport Museum. It was erected on this corner at the entrance to the museum complex in May 1976 with funds provided by the Exxon Corporation.