The museum site is the original location of the Percy & Small Shipyard, which launched 41 wooden sailing ships between 1897 and 1920.
The schooner Wyoming, represented by a full-scale steel sculpture on-site, was 450 feet long and featured six masts.
The museum's campus includes the 1894 Donnell House, a restored Victorian-era home that highlights the lifestyle of a prominent 19th-century shipbuilder.
It maintains the only remaining shipyard in the U.S. that exclusively built large wooden commercial sailing ships.
The museum’s collection includes over 20,000 maritime artifacts ranging from navigational tools to ship figureheads.
The Maine Maritime Museum is located on the historic site of the Percy & Small Shipyard, the only surviving shipyard in the United States where large wooden sailing vessels were built. The 20-acre campus sits along the Kennebec River and preserves Maine's extensive seafaring heritage through exhibits on shipbuilding, lobster fishing, and deep-sea exploration. It houses a massive full-scale sculpture of the schooner Wyoming, which visually demonstrates the actual size of the largest wooden sailing ship ever constructed in North America. Visitors can tour the surviving shipyard buildings, including the original mold loft and joiner shop. The museum maintains an active boat shop where traditional wooden boat building techniques are demonstrated and practiced. Extensive collections feature thousands of nautical artifacts, maritime art, and detailed records of Maine’s historic commercial fleet. Seasonal river cruises depart from the museum docks to provide views of Bath Iron Works and local lighthouses. The site functions as a comprehensive repository of Atlantic maritime history.
The base of the massive steel schooner Wyoming sculpture, which provides a dramatic sense of scale against the river.
Wear comfortable walking shoes, as the 20-acre campus involves significant movement between outdoor exhibits and historic buildings.
Check the daily demonstration schedule upon arrival to catch live boatbuilding or black-smithing sessions.
If planning a river cruise, reserve your spot online in advance as these frequently sell out during peak season.
Do not attempt to see every exhibit in under two hours; the shipyard area and the riverfront require dedicated time to appreciate.
Open daily year-round, though boat cruises and certain outdoor demonstrations are seasonal and weather-dependent.
