Connect with Seafaring History at These Top U.S. Maritime Museums

See real-life sailing vessels and learn from exhibits and programs

a sail boat in the Hudson River near the Statue of Liberty

Gather insight at maritime museums throughout the country. At South Street Seaport Museum, you can sail along New York Harbor.

Courtesy Richard Bowditch

Michele Herrmann

AARP

Published June 13, 2025

Maritime history is as old as millennia, and it can be experienced today at maritime museums across the country.

These museums contain significant boats, ships and other nautical vessels and host educational or engaging programming linking the past to the present day. As the American Alliance of Museums notes, the majority of frequent museumgoers to art museums, history organizations and botanical gardens are older than 60. These marine museums teach about the significance of our rivers, harbors and oceans and provide places of remembrance for our personal connections to the water or military service.

Explore these five maritime museums in the U.S. that are intertwined with regional maritime history. Fascinating exhibitions and excursions on board period sailboats and vessels highlight enriching backstories.

a crowd of people sit in front of a docked boat outside of the Mystic Seaport Museum

Spectators watch the relaunch of Mystic Seaport Museum’s flagship, “Charles W. Morgan,” at the Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard at Mystic Seaport in 2013.

Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images

Mystic Seaport Museum, Connecticut

This museum along the Mystic River holds a fleet of more than 500 historic vessels, including the Charles W. Morgan, a former whaling ship and now the oldest commercial ship still afloat.

“There’s a wide range of opportunities to get out on the water and enjoy the expanse of our museum,” says Margaret Milnes, vice president of visitor journey.

At the Historic Seaport Village, interpreters demonstrate skills from the trades of the day, such as creating wooden barrels in a cooperage or working in a print shop. Maritime preservation is maintained at the Henry B. du Pont Preservation Shipyard. Temporary and permanent exhibits dive into ocean exploration, water recreation and maritime innovation.

Pick up new skills through the museum’s SeaClass courses, book a sailing on the wooden steamboat Sabino or the Mystic Seaport Express, or pay an online advance reservation to dock your own vessel in the marina. Admission: $35 for general admission; $33 for adults 65-plus. Buy online for a $2 discount.

Events: A wooden boat show in June; ongoing adult beginning sailing classes.

a group of people listen to a man talking near the South Street Seaport Museum’s bell

Visitors can ring the South Street Seaport Museum’s bell in New York.

Courtesy Richard Bowditch

South Street Seaport Museum, New York

This museum within the Seaport neighborhood in lower Manhattan delves into NYC’s maritime history and chronology from a Dutch trading settlement and a major commercial port to its revitalization as a tourism destination.

“The reality is that maritime has for many centuries been the arterial connection between nations, and, until the advent of air travel, people got places by ship,” says Capt. Jonathan Boulware, president and CEO of the museum. “We tell that story from the vantage point of the beginnings of New York.”Among its fleet of vessels, the Pioneer, an 1885 schooner, and the 1930 tugboat W.O. Decker offer seasonal sailings along New York Harbor.

Browse through stationery at Bowne & Co., a 19th-century-style gift emporium continuing the tradition of press print making.

“Maritime NYC,” a permanent exhibit, shows how this metropolis was shaped from the Greater New York area’s waterways, people and industries. The adjacent Titanic Memorial Lighthouse remembers those who perished in the 1912 sinking. Admission: $18 for adults; $15 for adults 65-plus.

Events: An In-Person Sea Chanteys and Maritime Music series on the 1885 tall ship Wavertree; maritime-themed book club meetings; regular walking tours of the Seaport based on historical themes.

Recovered artifacts from the USS “Monitor,” including its anchor, are preserved at the Mariners’ Museum and Park.

The Mariners' Museum and Park

The Mariners’ Museum and Park, Newport News, Virginia

This museum and park is the repository for the USS Monitor, an ironclad warship in the American Civil War.

“The Battle of the Ironclads, as it was called, actually took place right in our backyard,” says Wisteria Perry, assistant curator of community engagement.

More than 200 tons of recovered ship artifacts are preserved here. Learn more via a full-scale replica and a high-definition film or observe areas relating to its conservation.

Other exhibition galleries within this 90,000-square-foot museum showcase the histories of the U.S. Navy and America’s Cup. The International Small Craft Center presents boats from around the world. The adjacent lakeside park has overlooks and pathways, such as a multipurpose trail. Admission: $1 for the museum; free for the park.

Events: Various lectures; a “Friendly Hours” series on the second Sunday of every month provides a slower-paced experience.

a docked boat sits outside the Jim Kress Maritime Lighthouse Tower

The Jim Kress Maritime Lighthouse Tower offers top views of the Sturgeon Bay waterfront.

Courtesy Door County Maritime Museum

Door County Maritime Museum, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin

This museum is one of three locations where you can learn more about Door County’s nautical legacy, along with the Cana Island Lighthouse in Baileys Harbor and Death’s Door Maritime Museum in Gills Rock.

From May through October, the Door County Maritime Museum offers guided tours of the restored 1919 tugboat John Purves. A 12-minute film about the maritime history of Door County is shown in the first-floor theater of the Jim Kress Maritime Lighthouse Tower. There are also themed exhibits on each floor, with an elevator to the top for views of the waterfront and the Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding shipyard.