Maine Maritime Museum

Experience Maine's Seafaring History in the City of Ships

On a beautiful blue sky fall day, my photographer friend and I spent the day in Bath. We strolled along the waterfront park, did a little shopping downtown on Front Street, and then headed to the Maine Maritime Museum.

The museum is quite large, spread out over a 20 acre campus, and includes several different buildings, boats, sculptures, and exhibits. It encompasses the country's only surviving shipyard including some of the preserved original buildings so you can see where the large wooden sailing vessels were once built. Most commanding of attention, is a full-size sculpture of the schooner Wyoming, the largest wooden sailing vessel ever built in North America.

One of the permanent exhibits we interacted with was Into the Lantern: A Lighthouse Experience. Featured in this display is a full-scale replication of the Cape Elizabeth lighthouse tower lantern room where you can see the original second-order Fresnel lens from the east tower at Two Lights and experience first hand the environment of the lantern room through time-lapsed video projections featuring a panorama of the Gulf of Maine that changes with the weather and seasons. Also included in this exhibit is a glimpse into what the kitchen and office in a typical Maine lighthouse might look like, including manuals for Regulations for the US Lighthouse Service and Instructions to Lighthouse Keepers, as well as a small library of other classic literary works.

Along with some permanent exhibits, there are also changing current exhibits. At the time we visited, A Sailor’s Treasure: Sea Chests & Curiosities was on display. There were several collections of old wooden sea chests and even a cloth sea bag with personalized illustration available for viewing. Perhaps these were the precursor to the now iconic local brand, Sea Bags? The iconic wooden sea chests served not only as storage for the sailor's personal effects and as catalyst for much storytelling, but also as functional furniture, while the cloth bag was much lighter and easier to transport.

Even a trip to the bathroom provides an opportunity for learning with plans and designs of various ship bathrooms, wash basins, and wash sinks posted up on the walls. How clever.

If you get hungry for a snack, the Even Keel Cafe is located outside close to the pirate play ship. We stopped here and grabbed a snack before boarding one of the seasonal boat cruises. We were on the manifest for the one hour Shipyards and Lighthouses Cruise, which was the main attraction of the day because admission to the museum was included in the cost of the cruise fare.

If you love being out on the water, there are several boat cruises aboard the Merrymeeting that vary in length from 30 minutes to 4 hours. The sightseeing highlights of these tours range from modern ships being built at Bath Iron Works, historic lighthouses, fall colors, and Maine's abundant wildlife.

And though the cruises may be limited to the warmer weather season, the Maine Maritime Museum is open year round and makes for a great trip to learn about Maine's seafaring history in Bath, "The City of Ships".