The ''Titanic'' Memorial is a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

at Fulton and

Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

Streets in the

Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies, and other related finance corporations have their headquarters offices. In major cities, financial districts often host ...

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It was built, in part at the instigation of

Margaret Brown Margaret Brown (née Tobin; July 18, 1867 – October 26, 1932), posthumously known as the "Unsinkable Molly Brown", was an American socialite and philanthropist. She was a survivor of the RMS ''Titanic'', which sank in 1912, and she unsuccess ...

, to remember the people who died on the on April 15, 1912. Its design incorporates the use of a

time ball A time ball or timeball is a time-signalling device. It consists of a large, painted wooden or metal ball that is dropped at a predetermined time, principally to enable navigators aboard ships offshore to verify the setting of their marine chron ...

History

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."Give Lighthouse For Titanic's Dead; Tower on Seamen's Institute Dedicated Before Those Who Created It."
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 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." It stood above the

East River The East River is a saltwater Estuary, tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island, ...

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. From 1913 to 1967, a

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 New York Harbor is a bay that covers all of the Upper Bay. It is at the mouth of the Hudson River near the East River tidal estuary on the East Coast of the United States. New York Harbor is generally synonymous with Upper New York Bay, ...

; the time ball mechanism was activated by a telegraphic signal transmitted from the Naval Observatory in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

1913: Titanic Memorial Lighthouse Commemorates Victims of Ocean Tragedy"
''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...

'', August 24, 2005. Accessed December 21, 2023, via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. It is owned by The ...

. "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." 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 The South Street Seaport is a historic area in the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan, centered where Fulton Street (Manhattan), Fulton Street meets the East River, within the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial ...

. It was erected at the entrance to the museum complex, on the corner of Fulton and

streets, in May 1976, with funds provided by the

Exxon Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the largest direct successor of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, the modern company was form ...

Corporation. 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. 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.

Other memorials

Straus Park __NOTOC__ Straus Park is a small landscaped park on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, at the intersection of Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway, West End Avenue, and 106th Street (Manhattan), 106th Street. The most notable feature is a bronze 1913 ...

, away on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

at Broadway and West 106th Street, is a memorial to Ida and Isidor Straus, who died on ''Titanic''. * Memorials and monuments to victims of the Titanic

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1913 establishments in New York City Government buildings in Manhattan Lighthouses completed in 1913 Lighthouses in New York City RMS Titanic memorials South Street Seaport Time balls Transportation buildings and structures in Manhattan