Generations of artisans, carpenters, workers, riggers, and sailmakers used the South Street waterfront district as a place to craft, market, and export their wares. The South Street Seaport Museum’s collection includes navigational instruments used by sailors to monitor their environment and their vessels, along with thousands of historic and antique tools used for shipyard and port work by workers and riggers.
Highlights include the Ira S. Bushey Collection, representing one of the many 20th century shipyards of New York Harbor; and the blacksmith tools of Simon Douglas (1843-1950), the formerly enslaved craftsman who escaped North during the American Civil War.
Acquisition Policies
To learn more about how we acquire and accession objects into our collection click the button below