Before the Civil War, around one-third of American sailors were Black, as the job offered harsh conditions that many white workers avoided. Despite the dangers, it provided freedom of travel, which attracted many Black sailors.&nbsp;

In the first half of the 19th century, the South Street Seaport area was the mercantile center of New York City. 4 and 5 story Federal and Greek Revival brick buildings, resting on landfill, served as wholesale stores, warehouses, and counting houses. It is here that city merchants bought and sold the various imports and exports transported by ship to and from the East River harbor. Today, the neighborhood, comprised of Fulton Fish Market, South Street Seaport Museum, and the Schermerhorn Ron, is the only cohesive survival of early New York City's commercial district.

Extension Designated July 11, 1989

Original District Designated May 10, 1977

 In the first half of the 19th century, the South Street seaport area was the mercantile center of New York City. 4 and 5 story Federal and Greek Revival brick buildings, resting on landfill, served as wholesale stores, warehouses, and counting houses. It is here that city merchants bought and sold the various imports and exports transported by ship to and from the East River harbor. Today, the neighborhood, comprised of Fulton Fish Market, South Street Seaport Museum, and the Schermerhorn Ron, is the only cohesive survival of early New York City's commercial district.  

&amp;ldquo;The Seaport will also debut a sculpture from world-renowned sand sculptor John Gowdy, a retired New Jersey firefighter who has been sculpting from sand for more than 30 years.&amp;rdquo; 

 Designed by George B. Post for Ellen S. Auchmuty, a Schermerhorn descendant, in 1885, the brick and terra cotta store is one of the handsomest buildings in the Seaport area. Terra cotta fish and shell ornamentation relate to the fish market businesses that have dominated the neighborhood since the building was constructed.  

 Grocer Edward G. Faile built 236 Front Street between 1827 and 1828. Like many of the buildings in the Seaport, 236 Front Street has contained a variety of busnesses including a liquor store and fish market. The vacant building is now part of the South Street Seaport Museum, a neighborhood of stores, galleries, and piers standing in close proximity to high rise buildings in Lower Manhattan.  

 Presently known as Meyer's Hotel, this double brick building was designed by the prominent New York architect John B. Snook in 1873 for Mrs. Harriet S. Onderdonk and Mrs. H.L. Mann. Ten years later Mrs. Onderdonk sold the stores to Henry L. Meyer, liquor merchant who probably installed the Victorian carved bar that stands in the Paris Bar today. In 1903, Meyer converted the buildings' upper stories into small hotel rooms, now inhabited by retired fishmongers.  

 Piers 17 and 18, located in the South Street Historic District Extension, stand as physical evidence of the water-oriented economy of New York City in its developmental years. The current piers were built in 1906 on the site of older piers dating to the eighteenth century. Wharves, ferry terminals and fish markets have been predominant in the district throughout its history, requiring and utilizing the construction and maintenance of the piers and significantly affecting the economy of the early city.  