Discover Delmarva: Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
ST. MICHAELS, Md.- The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum holds much more than just artifacts. Each artifact comes with a story from a local community member giving their first-hand experience. Chief Historian Pete Lesher showed WMDT some of the new offerings “The museum’s new welcome center shows off a large part of our collection of our watercraft collection.”
Lesher tells WMDT, that each of the watercraft has a direct connection to the people who used these boats dating back decades. The watercraft collection shows the evolution of boating on the Chesapeake as well as the ship-making process. Each boat also tells a story and is sourced and is meant to highlight a local tie to the community for its exhibits. “We want to tell the stories of every one of these boats. Through one individual who built that boat, who owned that boat, who used that boat if only for a day,” says Lesher.
The tour continues to the ‘Oystering’ hall where we find a skipjack in the main exhibit we’re told you can board yourself; Immersing you into a day in the life of someone on the Chesapeake not that long ago.
The purpose of this ship was to dredge for oysters so while not built for luxury, it’s practical for this line of work. We continued outside where Lesher explained the importance of providing a hands-on experience to help you dive into character at Waterman’s Wharf; Where you can try to pull a crab pot, or oysters off the dock.
Walking along the Miles River you’ll find multiple exhibits including the “At Play On The Bay Exhibit.” This exhibit shows how the culture has shifted from a place of work to a place of play over the last 100 years. One can also find the centerpiece of the museum the “Hooper Strait Lighthouse” built in 1879 which also provides a unique vantage point. This lighthouse was rescued and refurbished where it provides a view over the museum’s grounds and their working shipyard.
The shipyard is where they refurbished many of the ships you’ll find on display, and perform routine maintenance on their fleet. “In our shipyard, there is an opportunity to interact with our shipwrights and apprentices,” says Lesher. This ultimately is what keeps the museum going and preserving this living culture for years to come.
The museum has plenty of specialty events and programs that run throughout the coming months. They offer an after-school program called “A Rising Tide” for 6th to 9th graders for free. They also will have their annual Oyster Fest upcoming this October.
For more information on any of their programs or specialty events check out their website.
