Lettie G. Howard, Training schooner in South Street Seaport, United States.
The Lettie G. Howard is a two-masted wooden fishing schooner berthed at the South Street Seaport Museum in Lower Manhattan. The hull and rigging have been restored to reflect how the vessel looked during its working years, and the deck layout follows the original design of a commercial fishing boat.
The schooner was built in 1893 in Essex, Massachusetts, a town known for producing fishing vessels, and spent its early years working the fishing grounds of Georges Bank. It was later sold and used off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula before being acquired, restored, and opened to the public as a museum ship.
The name honors Lettie G. Howard, the daughter of the ship's owner at the time of its construction, a personal touch rarely seen on working vessels. Visitors on deck can observe how every detail of the design was driven by function rather than comfort, reflecting the daily reality of fishing crews.
The vessel is docked at the South Street Seaport Museum pier in Lower Manhattan, within walking distance of the historic Fulton Street area. The deck can be uneven, so wearing sturdy, flat shoes makes the visit more comfortable, and fair weather allows for a much better look at the rigging and hull from the outside.
Essex, Massachusetts, where the schooner was built, launched more fishing vessels than almost any other town in American history, yet very few of those ships have survived. The Lettie G. Howard is one of the rare examples still afloat, making it an unusual survivor from that era of mass wooden shipbuilding.
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