The 1885 Cargo Ship Wavertree

Built in 1885 in Southampton, Great Britain, Wavertree circled the globe four times carrying a wide variety of cargoes and called on New York in 1895, one of hundreds of similar ships built in the city. In 1910, after twenty-five years of sailing, a Cape Horn storm tore down her masts and ended her sailing career. She was salvaged and used as a floating warehouse and then as a sand barge in South America until the Seaport Museum saved her in 1968 and towed her to New York, where she became the centerpiece of the Street of Ships at South Street. Built of riveted wrought iron, the 132-year-old Wavertree is an archetype of the sailing cargo ships of the latter half of the 19th century that, during the age of sail, lined South Street by the dozens and created a forest of masts from the Battery to the Brooklyn Bridge. In 2015, a city-funded 13.5 million dollar restoration completed her masts, yards, and rigging, installed her 'tweendeck, and refitted her iron hull, beginning the next chapter of her life as the flagship of the South Street Seaport Museum.

New York, New York · United States