South Street Seaport Historic District
Also known as: See Also:South Street Seaport
Why it's listed
This seven-and-a-half-block area of lower Manhattan, with two piers on the East River, extends the South Street Seaport district to its final boundaries. Pearl Street marks the western edge because all land to the east was created by landfill between the late 17th and early 19th centuries. The Brooklyn Bridge bounds it on the north. Buildings are mostly three to six stories of brick, with earlier walls in handmade brick laid in Flemish bond and later ones in machine-made brick. Greek Revival granite store fronts and cast-iron fronts survive. Notable sites include the Captain Joseph Rose House at 273 Water Street, built about 1773 and called the oldest commercial structure in the city, though fire left only parts of its facade. A wooden building at Dover and Water Streets is the last wooden frame structure south of Canal Street. The sealed landfill deposits also give the area archeological importance.
Significance in brief: The extension completes the boundaries of the Seaport district and takes in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century buildings similar in history and architectural style to the areas already listed. It also holds archeological value, since successive landfill from the late 17th century created sealed deposits of period rubbish. The Captain Joseph Rose House at 273 Water Street, built about 1773, is described as the oldest commercial structure in New York City.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 78001884, listed December 12, 1978. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly bounded by East River, Brooklyn Bridge, Fletcher Allry, Pearl, and South Sts., New York |
|---|---|
| County | Manhattan |
| Listed | December 12, 1978 |
| Reference number | 78001884 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival store fronts, later nineteenth-century cast-iron fronts, and Romanesque Revival |
| Areas of significance | Commerce, Historic - Non-Aboriginal, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Condition marked excellent, good, fair and deteriorated. Area is still used commercially and some buildings have been demolished; the Captain Joseph Rose House has suffered a fire and only parts of its facade remain. |
| Acreage | 41 |
| Within district | South Street Seaport |
| Coordinates | 40.70747, -74.00180 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 78001884.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q223000
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.