The NC Maritime Museum is located just off the Intracoastal Waterway on the Beaufort Waterfront. The all-wood, cedar-shake building on Front Street is reminiscent of nineteenth century Beaufort and architecture and of the early US Lifesaving Service buildings. Funded by the NC Department of Agriculture since 1975, the museum offers educational exhibits, programs and field trips. There is no admission charge.
   Museum exhibits highlight the maritime and natural history of coastal North Carolina and include the history of the US Lifesaving Service, working watercraft, ship models, decoys, hand tools, fossil and shell collections, displays of coastal pant and animal life, salt water aquariums and indigenous small craft. The research library offers visitors use of its extensive collection.

The museum’s Harvey W. Smith Watercraft Center, just across the street on the water side, is a working boat shop where visitors can watch wooden boats being built and restored. There, in the model shop, volunteers build ship models to scale.

The museum’s annual programs attract all ages, all interests, all year. The Wooden Boat Show, the first Saturday in May, is full of workshops, demonstrations and activities for wooden boat owners and enthusiasts. The Junior Sailing Program instructs two-week classes for children ages 8-15 from June through August, and Summer Science School for those entering grades 1-9 involves exciting field programs in both natural and maritime history.

For two decades, the museum’s education staff has been offering environmental education programs for the public. Coastal wetlands and habitats are highlighted in trips to barrier island beaches, maritime forests, salt marshes, and tidal flats. In addition there are trawling trips aboard a research vessel, visits to local boat builders, bird watching and fossil hunts.

The museum gift shop has maritime and natural history posters, field guides and posters, NOAA and Defense Mapping charts and navigational aids. Construction plans for North Carolina small watercraft can also be purchased.

For a free copy of the museum’s calendar of activities, call or write NC Maritime Museum, 315 Front St., Beaufort, NC 28516, 252-728-7317. The museum is open 9am-5pm Mon.-Fri., 10am-5pm Sat., and 1-5pm, Sun.

« Return to Attractions

Story & photo courtesy of nccoast.com