Titanic Memorial (New York City)

Titanic Memorial Lighthouse
Dedication plaque on the Lighthouse

The Titanic Memorial is a 60-foot-tall (18 m) lighthouse at Fulton and Pearl Streets in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It was built, in part at the instigation of Margaret Brown, to remember the people who died on the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912.[1] Its design incorporates the use of a time ball.

History

A multi story building seen from above with a river visible behind it
The Seaman's Church Institute of New York building in about 1934, with the lighthouse and time ball atop the building

The lighthouse was originally erected by public subscription and was formally dedicated on April 15, 1913, the one-year anniversary of the sinking, with an address given by Episcopal bishop David H. Greer.[2][3] It stood above the East River on the roof of the old Seamen's Church Institute of New York and New Jersey at the corner of South Street and Coenties Slip.[4] From 1913 to 1967, a time ball at the top of the lighthouse would be raised to the top of the rod and dropped down the pole to signal twelve noon to ships in New York Harbor; the time ball mechanism was activated by a telegraphic signal transmitted from the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C.[2][5]

In July 1968, the Seamen's Church Institute moved to 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 at the entrance to the museum complex, on the corner of Fulton and Pearl streets, in May 1976, with funds provided by the Exxon Corporation.[6]

In 2017, preservation efforts were initiated due to the state of the lighthouse under the auspices of Friends of Titanic Lighthouse Restoration, which was founded in 2019 and whose members include descendants of those aboard the Titanic. Plans under discussion as of 2022 included a potential Titanic museum on Pier 16.[7] In April 2023, ahead of the anniversary, the Seaport Museum announced the selection of Jan Hird Pokorny Associates as architects for the restoration and that it would be completed in 2024.[8]

Other memorials

References

  1. ^ Boardman, Mark (March 12, 2012). "Unsinkable Margaret Brown". True West Magazine. Archived from the original on June 27, 2022. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Give Lighthouse For Titanic's Dead; Tower on Seamen's Institute Dedicated Before Those Who Created It.", The New York Times, April 16, 1913. Accessed December 21, 2023. "With services commemorating the heroism and sacrifice of the officers, crew, and passengers who went to their death with the Titanic, just one year ago yesterday, the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse Tower and Time Ball were dedicated yesterday afternoon at the Seamen's Church Institute, 25 South Street, in the presence of more than 200 persons.... Surmounting the tower is a time ball, to be hoisted to the top of a steel rod five minuters before 12 o'clock each noon and dropped when the time is flashed over the wires from Washington."
  3. ^ "Dedicate Titanic Memorial Lighthouse", Edmonton Journal, April 15, 1913. Accessed December 21, 2023, via Newspapers.com. "Today, the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, men prominent in church, business and shipping circles gathered at the Seamen's Church institute, on the lower water front to dedicate the Titanic memorial lighthouse tower erected to the memory of the men and women who went down with the ship."
  4. ^ Gray, Christopher (September 11, 2005). "Remembering Victims of a 1912 Disaster". The New York Times. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  5. ^ 1913: Titanic Memorial Lighthouse Commemorates Victims of Ocean Tragedy", Newsday, August 24, 2005. Accessed December 21, 2023, via Newspapers.com. "From 1913 until 1967 a black 'time ball' at the top activated by a telegraphic signal from the National Observatory in Washington DC dropped at noon every day signaling the time to ships in the harbor."
  6. ^ Mariners Weather Log. United States Department of Commerce p. 20. 2014.
  7. ^ Gill, John Freeman (2022-07-01). "Neglected Titanic Memorial: 'Like Their Graves Have Not Been Tended'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
  8. ^ Wild, Stephi (April 13, 2023). "South Street Seaport Museum Reveals Architect For Restoration of Titanic Memorial Lighthouse". Broadway World. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
  9. ^ Russell, Gareth (2019). The Ship of Dreams: The Sinking of the Titanic and the End of the Edwardian Era. Atria Books p. 299. ISBN 978-1-5011-7672-2.
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40°42′27″N 74°00′14″W / 40.70740°N 74.00386°W / 40.70740; -74.00386