Musée Maritime du Québec facts for kids
The Musée Maritime du Québec
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| Former name | Musée Bernier |
|---|---|
| Established | 1968 |
| Location | 55 chemin des Pionniers Est L'Islet, Quebec |
| Collection size | 12,000 objects and documents |
| Visitors | 15,000 |
| Founder | The Association for Sailors, St. Lawrence Valley |
The Musée Maritime du Québec (which means Maritime Museum of Québec in English) is a cool place in L'Islet, Quebec, Canada. It's a museum all about ships, the ocean, and maritime history! You can explore an outdoor park with three real ships, a historic building full of sea-themed exhibits, and a workshop showing how small wooden boats are built.
Contents
Exploring the Museum
The museum is located in L'Islet, a town right on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. This area is about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Québec City. L'Islet has a long and interesting history with the sea, especially in training sailors for the Canadian Merchant Navy.
The museum's main goal is to protect and share the maritime history of the St. Lawrence River. This includes everything from the Great Lakes all the way to the Arctic. The museum was once called the Maritime Musée Bernier. This was to honor Captain Joseph-Elzéar Bernier, a famous explorer from L'Islet who explored the Canadian Arctic.
Amazing Museum Ships
One of the coolest parts of the museum is the three real ships you can visit!
- HMCS Bras d'Or (FHE 400): This was a super-fast hydrofoil ship used by the Canadian Armed Forces.
- CCGS Ernest Lapointe: This ship was a light icebreaker for the Canadian Coast Guard. It helped clear paths in icy waters.
- J.E. Bernier II: This is a sailboat named after the famous Captain Bernier.
Museum History
The maritime history of the L'Islet area goes way back to the time of New France. In 1853, a group called the Christian Brothers started a school. They taught students how to navigate ships. This school later became known as the l'École des marins (School for sailors).
In 1920, sailors who had trained at this school created the Association for Sailors in the St. Lawrence Valley. They held many exhibitions and eventually founded the museum in 1968. It was the very first maritime museum in Canada!
The area around the St. Lawrence River, from Levis to Kamouraska, was famous for shipbuilding. Over 2,000 ships were built there in the 1800s. The museum got a lot of help from local groups and the Quebec government. This support helped them collect hundreds of maritime objects in their early years. These objects are now the main part of their collection.
Growing the Maritime Park
The museum's collection of ships grew over time.
- In 1979, the JE Bernier II sailboat was given to the museum. This boat had sailed through the Northwest Passage!
- In 1980, the museum got the CCGS Ernest Lapointe. This was a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker that worked on the Saint Lawrence River.
- In 1983, the museum added a third ship, the military hydrofoil, HMCS Bras d'Or. This ship was once the fastest warship in the world!
In 1983, the museum also got bigger and was updated to modern museum standards.
In 1997, the museum started building a special workshop. This workshop was made to hold their collection of traditional small wooden boats. By June 1998, the building was finished. The museum now had 35 boats from different parts of Québec, like Île d'Orléans and Île aux Coudres.
In 2001, the museum won an award from the Québec Ministry of Tourism. This award recognized the museum's hard work over many years. It invited visitors to "make an appointment with naval history" through its exhibits and amazing ships.
New Exhibits and Expansion
In 2007, the museum received money to help with its expansion plans. This money also helped them take better care of their collections. The museum improved its visitor area and worked on repairing the main building.
The expansion work started in September 2009. The old convent building, where part of the museum is, was renovated. Its windows, walls, and roof were all restored. The museum also added a new section between the convent and its chapel.
The museum also took over an old bank building nearby. This building was turned into a storage area for their collections. This meant more space in the convent building for exhibits, especially for their collection of 200 boat models. They also added a theater for films about maritime history. All this work was finished in July 2010.
In September 2010, the museum received more money to build a new permanent exhibit. This new exhibit will focus on shipbuilding. The public was able to see this new exhibit starting in June 2013.
See also
- List of museum ships in Canada
