Mystic Seaport

The museum was established in 1929 as the "Marine Historical Association". Its fame came with the acquisition of the Charles W. Morgan in 1941, the only surviving wooden whaling ship. The Seaport was one of the first living history museums in the United States, with a collection of buildings and craftsmen to show how people lived; it now receives about 250,000 visitors each year.[2]

The Seaport supports research via an extensive library[3] and runs the Frank C. Munson Institute of American Maritime Studies, a summer graduate-level academic program established in 1955 by maritime history professor Robert G. Albion of Harvard University.[4] The museum also hosts Williams–Mystic in conjunction with Williams College, an undergraduate program in maritime studies.[5] Outreach includes sailing and history classes for area children.[6][7]

Street in Mystic Seaport, masts of Charles W. Morgan in background

The Preservation Shipyard is an important part of the museum, where traditional tools and techniques are used to preserve the Museum's collection of historic vessels,[8] including the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan. A replica of the slave ship La Amistad was constructed in the shipyard and launched in 2000.[9] Amistad departed New Haven on June 21, 2007 on a 14,000 mile transatlantic voyage to Great Britain, Lisbon, West Africa, and the Caribbean, marking the Atlantic trade and slave route to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the end of the slave trade in Great Britain.[10]

The 19th-century seafaring village contains nearly all the types of general and specialized trades associated with building and operating a sailing fleet. They include a chandlery, sail loft, ropewalk, cooperage, shipping agent's office, printing office, bank, and others. Also included is The Spouter Tavern, which is open seasonally and serving "travelers' fare". Each building is used to show the original activity and also to display examples of what was sold or constructed; the nautical instrument shop, for example, displays sextants, nautical timepieces, and so forth, while demonstrations at the cooperage show how casks were assembled.

• 
  Scale model of Mystic, Connecticut as it was around 1870
• 
  Children learning to sail in JY15s and Dyer Dhows

Additional buildings house more exhibits. One is a 1⁄128 scale model of the entire Mystic River area as it appeared around 1870, complete down to the outhouse that was located behind every residence; the model is 40 feet long.[11] Another contains a collection of carved ship figureheads.[12] Also among the museum's buildings is a planetarium which demonstrates how seamen used stars for navigation.[13]

Sailing instruction[14] is also offered, as well as tourist rides in various historical small craft. Such tours give a good overview of historic ships at their moorings. Mystic Seaport's music program is unusual, as it prominently features sea shanties in their original contexts as work songs. The Mystic Seaport Sea Music Festival is held annually in June and is among the oldest and largest in the United States.[15]

Four vessels at Mystic Seaport have been recognized by the United States Government as National Historic Landmarks

Vessel	Image	Type	Overall length	Built	Description
Emma C. Berry		well smack	39 ft	1866	Emma C. Berry is the last surviving American well smack (also called Noank smacks). Well smacks originated in England about 1775 and were designed to keep the catch alive in an internal water-filled compartment known as a wet well. Seawater circulated through large holes in the bottom planking.[16] She was donated to Mystic Seaport in 1969 and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1994.[17][18]
L. A. Dunton		fishing schooner	123 ft	1921	L. A. Dunton was built in Massachusetts and is among the last of the larger fishing vessels that were powered solely by sail. She was named after Louis A. Dunton, a sailmaker who was a member of the syndicate that commissioned her construction.[19] She was worked in the New England fisheries until 1934 and then in the Newfoundland cod fishery of the Grand Banks into the 1950s. In 1955, she was converted for use as a coastal cargo boat. She was acquired by Mystic Seaport in 1963 and restored to her original condition.[19] Dunton was declared a National Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.[20][19][21]
Charles W. Morgan		whaler	113 ft	1841	Charles W. Morgan is a whaling ship which was active for 80 years. She is the only surviving wooden whaler from 2,700 ships that operated in the United States whaling fleet. On her deck are huge try pots used to render blubber into whale oil. She came to Mystic Seaport in 1941 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966.[22]
Sabino		island steamer	57 ft	1908	Sabino is a small wooden, coal-fired steamboat and is one of only two surviving members of the United States mosquito fleet. She was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1992.[20][23] Mystic Seaport acquired her after she became obsolete in 1974. The seaport has operated her as a working exhibit ever since, making her America's oldest regularly operating coal-powered steamboat.[24][25][26]

• 
  Mystic Seaport Light
• 
  Collection of historic buildings
• 
  1824 ropewalk
• 
  1874 oyster house
• 
  Carved vessel figureheads

• List of maritime museums in the United States
• List of museum ships
• Famous Sea Captain, Joseph Warren Holmes, many passings of Cape Horn
• Whaleboat - examples shown are at Mystic Seaport

• John Faunce Leavitt - former curator of Mystic Seaport.
• Theodore W. Houk - designer whose work is displayed

Notes

Bibliography

• Bray, Maynard; Fuller, Benjamin; and Vermilya, Peter (2002) Mystic Seaport Watercraft. ISBN 0-913372-94-3

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mystic Seaport Museum.

• Mystic Seaport homepage
• Mystic Seaport Podcast(registration required)
• 360-Degree Panoramic Photographs of Mystic Seaport

41°21′45″N 71°57′55″W