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• Penobscot Marine Museum

Penobscot Marine Museum - Uniquely showcasing the maritime history of the Penobscot Bay Region and Maine

In your visit to Rockland, are you interested in the maritime history of the Penobscot Bay Region and Maine? If so, about forty-five minutes away, you will find the Penobscot Marine Museum. This museum (with a building date somewhere between 1810 to 1845) is made up of eight buildings, each listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings, in their original location on Church Street, in the authentic seaside village of Searsport.

First and foremost, the museum has an incredibly impressive collection of paintings (including the largest collection of works by Thomas and James Buttersworth in the country), photos of local sea captains, a collection of China-trade merchandise, artifacts of seafaring life, navigational instruments, logging tools, dioramas, furniture, manuscripts, small boats, fishing artifacts, ice-cutting tools, ocean-travelers’ treasures, and models of famous ships. The fact that the collection continues to grow is the most impressive element of this museum.

As you turn from Route 1 onto Church Street, your first stop will be the Fowler-True-Ross House and Barn, a sea captain’s home. Fowler and his wife had five sons who also became sea captains. This house was the family home, and was occupied by descendants until it was gifted to the museum in 1967. Visitors can visit the adjoining barn to view a portion of the museum’s small boat collection.

Across the street from the Fowler-True-Ross House is the “Old Vestry,” a former schoolhouse turned Congregational Church vestry, turned Marine Science Lab, where children now take part in hands-on science activities.

Up the street from the Old Vestry, visitors will find another captain’s home, the Jeremiah Merithew House, which features a number of exhibits, including a collection of more than 300 portraits of Searsport sea captains. Visitors can even access an interactive kiosk to hear some of these captains’ first-hand sea stories.

Across the street from the Merithew House is the Ross Carriage Barn, which is now home to an exhibit of historic recreational boats. In front of the barn, visitors can explore a model of a square-rigger’s mast.

If visitors continue further up the street, they will come across the Old Town Hall (Searsport’s original Town Hall) built in 1845. This exhibit now showcases Maine’s finfish and shellfish industries. Sitting next to the Old Town Hall is the Stephen Phillips Memorial Library that serves as the Museum’s research center and is open by appointment. Just across the street from this library, visitors can access The Josiah Dutch House, the former home of a ship builder. Now called the Peapod, this has a play and learning area for children to explore.

The museum is open from Memorial Day through late October, Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sundays from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults, $3 for children, and free to members and children under seven. The museum offers a family rate of $18 and a group rate of $5 per person for parties larger than ten people. Most of the exhibits are wheelchair accessible. For more information, please call 207-548-2529.