Dormitory Room

Building D at Sailors' Snug Harbor, completed in 1844, was a dormitory with 36 rooms, accommodating two men in each room.  The museum’s recreation of a typical room includes original furnishings.  The chest of drawers, for example, has four drawers, two for each resident, and the blanket box is typical of those given to each resident upon his arrival at the Harbor.  Bedding was stamped with the Sailors' Snug Harbor logo.  Harbor Governor Trask, the fourth director of the facility appointed in 1884, decreed that there be “an Old Master in every room,” and the small Rembrandt etching on the wall above the bureau typifies that requirement.  The two-toned color of the walls and shutters is original.  Several friends of the museum donated additional maritime artifacts of the period to complete the recreation.

The presentation of the museum’s exhibitions is made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature; and by a grant from the Lily Auchincloss Foundation.