Titanic Memorial Lighthouse & Time Ball

Category: Lighthouses

Location: Marks the entrance to the Seaport Historic District since 1976.

Built: 1915
Owner: South Street Seaport Museum

Description: The light is a tribute to those lost in the SS Titanic disaster on April 15, 1912. The 60-foot tall light was originally located on top of the old Seaman’s Church Institute at South Street and Coenties Slip. A time ball attached to its pole would drop at noon each day, alerting ships in the port to set their watches.

The plaque reads:
TITANIC MEMORIAL LIGHTHOUSE

THIS LIGHTHOUSE IS A MEMORIAL TO THE PASSENGERS, OFFICERS AND CREW WHO DIED AS HEROES WHEN THE STEAMSHIP TITANIC SANK AFTER COLLISION WITH AN ICEBERG

LATITUDE 41° 46' NORTH
LONGITUDE 50° 14' WEST
APRIL 15, 1912

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 TO ITS PRESENT QUARTERS AT 15 STATE STREET. 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.