The Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut, is the largest maritime museum in the United States.
Indeed, it’s a re-creation of a a 19th century seafaring village. Covering more than 19 acres on the Mystic River, the museum’s collection is amazing, especially its four National Historic Landmark vessels.
We happened on the Mystic Seaport Museum of America & the Sea, in Mystic, Connecticut, almost by accident–luckily!
Linda’s Pick of the Displays
My pick of the Mystic Seaport displays was its main attraction — the last wooden whaleship in the world, the Charles W. Morgan. It was designated as a Registered National Historic Landmark in 1966.
The Charles W. Morgan launched in 1841 in New Bedford, Massachusetts, sailing with a crew of around 35 sailors.
And sail, she did! The Morgan made 37 voyages to various parts of the world, looking for whales. Indeed, the huge try-pots that converted the whale blubber into oil, are still on deck, and amazing to see.
What’s At Mystic Seaport Museum
The Mystic Seaport Museum has an extensive collection of original buildings and ships, all brought together to create a replica seaport village.
While it might seem a tough job, they’ve gathered 60+ historic buildings from nearby locations. Most buildings were moved to the site, then restored to their original grandeur.
And of course, what’s a maritime museum without ships? Indeed, there are 500 historic watercraft at the Mystic Museum — now that’s a lot of ships! There’s even one schooner, Brilliant, captained by Sarah Armour that serves as an offshore classroom in Mystic Seaport Museum’s education programs.
The schooner, Brilliant, was given to the museum in 1953 specifically to be used as a training vessel for young people, and has been serving in that role since then.
Fast Fact: In its life, the Brilliant has sailed the equivalent of five times around the earth with more than 11,000 students!
Mystic’s museum is a working museum, so we, along with a school bus load of students, watched craftsmen working on the Charles W. Morgan, a whaling ship that had set sail from New Bedford, MA, on July 21, 1841.
Mystic Boat Adventures
As well as watching, visitors to Mystic have the opportunity to take a Mystic Boat Adventure where you can even drive your own boat.
And if it’s research that takes you to Mystic, you’ll be thrilled to find their 41,000 square foot Collections Research Center (CRC) with more than 2 million physical and electronic artifacts.
The CRC is home to the G.W. Blunt White Library of 75,000 volumes on maritime history.
There’s also an Adventure Mystic program that offers paddle board, kayak, bike, skateboard, and snowboard rentals (depending of course on the season).
In 2016, the Museum opened the Thompson Exhibition Building, which is a 14,000 square foot building housing the Collins Gallery, and a 5,000 square foot hall that’s the largest of the museum’s seven formal galleries.
How many whales did it take to fill the hold of a whaling ship?
It took fifty or more whales to fill her hold with the barrels of oil once they were converted. The whales were hunted and captured by six-man whaleboats, also stored on the Morgan, with crews who received a small share of the profits for their years of work.
Classed as a 351 ton whaling ship, the Morgan had five owners and 21 captains during her years sailing the oceans in search of whales.
Fast Fact: Over 1000 sailors from more than 50 countries worked on board from 1841 until 1921, during which time she could have brought home 90,000 gallons of whale oil if each load was full.
Oyster Boats
A buy-boat (also known as a deck boat) was a 40 to 90 foot wooden boat with a large open deck. It’s job was to circulate among the oyster boats and collect the catches, which they then delivered to a wholesaler or oyster processing house.
Buy-boats also bought seed oysters (spat) for planting in oyster beds.
My mother’s name was Nellie, so it was interesting to learn about the oyster dredging sloop, Nellie, also in the museum collection. Built in 1891, the Nellie dredged natural growth oyster beds.
On the ocean for decades, the Nellie didn’t return to shore or to a buy boat until it had caught 100 or more bushels of oysters.
I was also fascinated by the information on how wooden ships are actually built. Not only as I able to read the information on displays, but was able to watch boats being worked on.
Videos from the Mystic Seaport Museum
If you’re interested in marine history, you’ll want to follow the Mystic Seaport Museum videos on YouTube. There are dozens to choose from, ranging from behind-the-scenes tours to what’s happening at the museum.
Linda’s Road Trip Tips
The town of Mystic (around 5000 people) provides lots of options if you want to stay, so you can spend as much time as you want at the village.
Accommodations range from camping, to the Steamboat Inn with its complimentary around-the-town adult bicycles, to the Whaler’s Inn in downtown Mystic.
Food and beverages are also available from a number of places.
We chose The Mariner, which is located in the heart of downtown Mystic. Stocked with lots of local beers, it’s a great place to relax over dinner.
Who Should Visit Mystic Seaport Museum?
Mystic Seaport Museum is a must-see museum for anyone living or traveling on the Eastern seacoast.
Its comprehensive collection of artifacts, buildings, ships, and print/digital collections give visitors amazing opportunities to understand the area as it is today by examining its past.
It’s a great stop for visitors of all ages, and even the youngest will find lots to keep them occupied.
Visit length: Plan at least a day, or even two, to go through the exhibits and participate in the activities.
How Do You Visit the Mystic Seaport Museum?
The Mystic Seaport Museum is located at 75 Greenmanville Ave. in Mystic, Connecticut.
Visit the Mystic Seaport Museum website for current hours, costs, and event schedules.
Follow the Mystic Seaport Museum on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/mysticseaport
Plan your visit with Google Maps. If you enjoyed the article, please pin it to share later.
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