Titanic Memorial Lighthouse
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Located at the entrance 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 colliding with an iceberg on April 15, 1912.
Images
Titanic Memorial Lighthouse, 2012 Right, Titanic Memorial Lighthouse 1913. Inset; Original Location, Seamen's Church Institute of New York.
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
The Lighthouse was originally erected by public subscription in 1913, and 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 same year, the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse was donated to South Street Seaport Museum by the Kaiser-Nelson Steel & Salvage Corporation. In May of 1976 it was erected at its current location, with funds provided by the Exxon Corporation.