Introduction

On permanent display is the nation's most complete collection of Chesapeake Bay artifacts, visual arts, and indigenous water craft. Interpretive exhibitions and public programs cover the range of Chesapeake Bay maritime history and culture-including Native-American life, seventeenth- and eighteenth-century trans-Atlantic trade, naval history, the Bay's unique watercraft and boat building traditions, navigation, waterfowling, boating, seafood harvesting, and recreation.

Unlike most museums which must depend upon tour guides or costumed re-enacters to bring life to the history they celebrate, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum offers you the real thing: people who actually live the story we tell. Some days, depending on the season and the weather, you could find a master decoy carver sitting on the porch of the Waterfowling building, carving decoys and telling stories of his life in Dorchester County. On others, a retired crab picker might be sitting at one of the picnic tables sharing historic photographs, talking with visitors about working on Navy Point; pointing out where different buildings stood, and sharing her memories of a picker's life. In the Museum's working Boat Yard, you can watch the restoration of the Bay's traditional vessels and go talk with the shipwrights, apprentices, or a visiting captain or boat builder.

Take a look at our Campus Map to help plan your tour.

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