Schermerhorn Row at Fulton and South streets

It was once a giant attic for some of the downtown seaport's weathered artifacts, housing 19th-century leftovers that had been cleared out of nearby buildings.  Now, historic Schermerhorn Row (14 Fulton Street) is on the verge of becoming an artifact of its own.  The South Street Seaport Museum is restoring the structure, which includes the A.A. Low Building attached on its east side, and plans to transform it into a set of galleries that will be the institution's star attraction.

"The Row," built by wealthy New York merchant Peter Schermerhorn circa 1811, fills the entire block of Fulton between Front and South Streets.   Although now home to a handful of retailers and galleries on its ground level, the Row's upper four stories were once the site of several assorted companies, including a sailor's boarding house and a burlap bag factory.  The Fulton Ferry Hotel also thrived there, inspiring New Yorker writer Joseph Mitchell to author the short stories of Up in the Old Hotel. 

Stepler stands beside original fire doors

"This is not a new building we are creating to hold found artifacts," says Stepler.   "This will be a museum that contains artifacts that were meant to be a part of the purpose of the structure.  We are preserving everything here that's worth preserving."

View from the Row of the "Street of Ships"

The permanent exhibit, called "World Port New York," is scheduled to open in 2004 and will occupy most of the building's 24-plus galleries on the Row's fourth and fifth floors.  Spanning the seaport's history dating back to the Dutch colonial era, World Port New York will examine the influence of the waterfront on commercial, economic and cultural development in both the city and the nation at large.

In the interim, temporary exhibit space on the Row's third floor is being prepared for a June 2003 opening, and this fall will host the exhibit "Captive Passage: The Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Making of the Americas" following its run at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

As for the items that once filled the Row in its days as the seaport's attic, they have been carefully analyzed and catalogued, and many of them -- including smaller pieces such as 19th-century keys and a straight razor discovered in the building at the start of the restoration project several years ago -- will return to the space as part of the core exhibit.  The galleries will also host the 18 artifacts remaining from the Five Points collection that are currently on display at New York Unearthed, the archeological branch of the South Street Seaport Museum at 17 State Street. 

19th-century elevator hoist machinery

The Schermerhorn Row restoration and World Port New York are the most significant projects the Museum has carried out in its 35-year existence.   Once completed, they promise to draw more visitors than the nearly 20 other exhibits that are scattered throughout the South Street Seaport area and Lower Manhattan, including the century-old schooners and tugboats moored at Pier 16's "Street of Ships" and port-life galleries along Water Street.

For more information about the Museum and its public programs, author readings and events, visit www.southstreetseaportmuseum.org or call (212) 748-8750.