Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum facts for kids
The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is a fun and interactive museum located in St. Michaels, Maryland, United States. It sits right on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay. This museum is home to many cool things like old Bay artifacts, interesting exhibits, and historic boats. It covers about 18-acre (73,000 m2) of land. The museum started in 1965 on Navy Point, which used to be a busy place for seafood businesses. Today, it has the world's largest collection of Chesapeake Bay boats. You can explore 35 buildings filled with exhibits and also take part in educational programs all year long.
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A Look Back: How the Museum Started
The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum first opened its doors to the public in 1965. It began as a project of the Historical Society of Talbot County. They bought three old houses right on St. Michaels Harbor.
In its early years, the museum started collecting historic boats. These boats were kept floating in the water. A famous oyster boat called the J. T. Leonard joined in 1966. Then, the unique log-bottom bugeye Edna E. Lockwood arrived the next year.
More land became available as seafood businesses on Navy Point closed down. The museum bought land from an old crab and oyster packing house in 1966. By the end of that year, something very special happened. The Hooper Strait Lighthouse, which was going to be torn down, was moved to the museum's new land. It opened to visitors in May 1967. By 1971, the museum owned all the former industrial land on Navy Point.
In 1968, the museum became its own independent non-profit group. They hired their first full-time director, R. J. "Jim" Holt, in 1971. He helped the museum grow a lot and become more professional. Under his leadership, the museum gained more land in 1976. In 1978, it received its first accreditation from the American Association of Museums.
Sadly, the J. T. Leonard sank in 1974 because it was too old to save. This showed how important it was to have ways to care for the floating boats. So, a traditional boat repair area was built in 1974, and a boat shop in 1977. The Edna E. Lockwood was carefully rebuilt over four years, using her original nine logs. She was relaunched in 1979.
New buildings were added to show different exhibits. These included the Waterfowling on the Chesapeake building (1975), the Bay of the Chesapeake building (1980), and the Steamboat building (1990). In the 1980s, the museum also moved several small historic buildings to its campus. One important one was the Mitchell House, which was the home of Eliza Bailey Mitchell, the sister of Frederick Douglass. By the time Jim Holt retired in 1987, the museum had grown into a large waterfront campus with many historic structures and exhibit buildings.
After Jim Holt, John R. Valliant became the director. He helped the museum grow even more. A library, an Oystering Building, and an At Play on the Bay building were added. He also greatly expanded the museum's programs. These included classes taught by experts and hands-on boatbuilding workshops. The museum also started the Academy for Lifelong Learning, offering classes for adults. Valliant also added many new items to the museum's collections. These included old sailmaking tools and a large group of artworks by marine artist Louis Feuchter.
Stuart Parnes took over as director in 2006. He helped turn the waterfront into a living shoreline, which is good for the environment. In 2009, Langley Shook became the director. He helped improve the museum's finances. He also oversaw a major restoration of the 1955 skipjack Rosie Parks. The museum also acquired the historic 1920 buy boat Winnie Estelle. This boat now takes visitors on tours of the Miles River.
Kristen Greenaway became director in 2014. She expanded the museum's special exhibits. One big exhibit, A Broad Reach: Fifty Years of Collecting, celebrated the museum's 50th anniversary in 2015. She also made sure older museum buildings were repaired. This included work on the Hooper Strait Lighthouse. She also oversaw the second major restoration of the bugeye Edna E. Lockwood, which started in 2016.
What You Can See: Museum Exhibits
The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum shares the stories of the Bay and the people who lived there. You can learn about the Bay's natural history, how people made a living, and how communities grew.
Visitors can see over 100 boats and boat models. There are also many artworks, including beautiful watercolors, duck decoys, old guns, ship signs, and other historical items from the Bay.
Larger exhibits include the original Tilghman Island’s Knapps Narrows drawbridge. You can also explore the 1879 Hooper Strait Chesapeake screw-pile lighthouse. At the museum’s working boatyard, you can even try building a wooden boat through the "Apprentice for a Day" program!
One fun, hands-on exhibit is Waterman's Wharf. Here, you can pretend to be a seafood harvester. You can pull an eel or crab pot out of the waters of Fogg Cove. Another exhibit, Oystering on the Chesapeake, makes you feel like you are on a working waterman's boat. It shows how the oyster industry shaped the region's culture and history.
The Floating Fleet is one of the most popular parts of the museum. This collection of boats is docked at Navy Point. It includes the Edna E. Lockwood, which is a National Historic Landmark. She is the last sailing log-bottom bugeye. The museum also helps keep the Chesapeake Bay log canoe racing tradition alive. They do this by preserving and sailing the Edmee S., their own log racing canoe. Museum staff race it on summer weekends.
The dredgeboat Old Point was built from seven logs in 1909. It used to haul fresh fish in winter, carry oysters in fall, and dredge clams in summer. Today, kids can get a hands-on "waterman" experience onboard. The museum's replica buyboat, Mister Jim, takes visitors on tours of the Bay during summer weekends. Through all these exhibits, the museum lets everyone experience the rich history and culture of the Chesapeake Bay region.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the museum created a digital exhibit. This allowed people to visit the museum from home. Island Life: Changing Cultures, Changing Shorelines is a photo exhibit. It shows how climate change is affecting the Chesapeake Bay. It explores themes like fast climate change, shore erosion, and communities moving because of the environment.
Learning and Fun: Education and Outreach
The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (CBMM) offers field trips for students from preschool through college. These trips focus on topics like history, geography, and the environment of the Chesapeake Bay. A special bus scholarship program helps schools pay for transportation.
The Lighthouse Overnight Program lets children experience what it was like to be a mariner. They get to stand watch overnight in the lighthouse! The museum also has programs just for kids, like the Sea Squirts Summer Camp. They offer hands-on games, crafts, and storytelling throughout the year.
For adults, the museum has a Lecture Series and guided tours. There's also the Academy for Lifelong Learning. This program offers many courses for continued learning, both in classrooms and through field trips. Besides these programs, the museum has a large library. It holds over 10,800 items, including ship plans, old writings, books, and sketches.
Building Boats: The Working Boatyard
The museum has a real working boatyard. Here, they restore old boats and teach people about them. Visitors can watch as commercial skipjacks are restored. They can also see how the museum's own floating boat collection is kept in good shape.
The "Apprentice for a Day" program is very popular. It allows visitors to help build a wooden skiff. Museum boatyard staff members guide you through the process. It's a great way to learn about traditional boatbuilding!
See Also
- List of maritime museums in the United States
- List of museum ships
