The South Street Seaport is a historic area in the New York City borough of Manhattan, located where Fulton Street meets the East River, and adjacent to the Financial District. The Seaport is a designated historic district, distinct from the neighboring Financial District. It features some of the oldest architecture in downtown Manhattan, and includes the largest concentration of restored early 19th-century commercial buildings in the city. This includes renovated original mercantile buildings, renovated sailing ships, the former Fulton Fish Market, and modern tourist malls featuring food, shopping and nightlife, with a view of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Designated by Congress as one of several museums which together make up "America’s National Maritime Museum" in 1998, South Street Seaport Museum sits in a 12 square-block historic district that is the site of the original port of New York City.[1] The Museum has over 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2) of exhibition space and educational facilities. It houses exhibition galleries, a working 19th-century print shop, an archeology museum, a maritime library, a craft center, a marine life conservation lab, and the largest privately owned fleet of historic ships in the country. Included in this fleet are:

Peking, a 1911, four-masted barque
Wavertree, an 1885, fully-rigged cargo ship
Pioneer, an 1885 schooner
Lettie G. Howard, an 1893 schooner
Ambrose, a 1908 lightship
Helen McAllister, a 1900 tugboat
W.O. Decker, a 1930 tugboat
Marion M., a 1932 chandlery lighter