Titanic Memorial Lighthouse

Postcard US-2849023 to Portugal shows the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse, at the entrance to the South Street Seaport in New York City, New York.

The 60-foot or 18-meter lighthouse was originally built 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 in 1913, over looking the East River. The time ball on the top of the lighthouse, activated by a radio signal from the Naval Observatory in Washington D.C., would drop down the pole to signal 12:00 at noon to the ships in the harbor from 1913 to 1967.

When the Seamen's Church Institute moved to 15 State Street in July 1968, the lighthouse was donated to the South Street Seaport Museum. It was erected on the corner of Fulton and Pearl streets in May, 1976. It is one of those memorials in the U.S., Canada, England and Northern Ireland that remember the people perished on the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912.

Peking at the South Street Seaport Museum in New York City

Outgoing postcard US-2452506 to Germany shows Peking, a steel-hulled four-masted barque which is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts, at the South Street Seaport Museum in New York City.

Built in Hamburg, Germany in 1911, Peking is one of the famous "Flying P Liners" of F. Laeisz Lines. Used in the nitrate trade and wheat trade, Peking made voyages from Europe to the west coast of South America around the often treacherous Cape Horn with general cargo and returned filled with guano for use in the making of fertilizer and explosives. Peking was made famous by the Irving Johnson film Around Cape Horn which documented her 1929 passage around the southern tip of South America in hurricane conditions.

The Peking was retired in 1975 and sold to Jack Aron, for the South Street Seaport Museum. However, the Museum does not have the Peking included in their long-term operational plan. In 2012, an offer was made to Hamburg, to return the ship to its port of building as a gift. The plan was not successful as the effort to raise an endowment in Germany to ensure the preservation of the vessel fell short.

The photo on the postcard was taken on November 20, 2011 when I traveled to New York City with a JetBlue unlimited BluePass. The ship, still moored at the South Street Seaport as of 2013, is in need of extensive repairs. The museum is opening Peking to the public every Saturday 12:00 - 4:00 pm from September 7 to October 19, 2013 with $5 suggested donation. With its future uncertain, today (October 12) and next Saturday (October 19) may be your last chances to visit the ship on board.