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Mystic Seaport Museum (founded as Marine Historical Association) is a maritime museum in Mystic, Connecticut, and the largest in the United States. Its site holds a collection of ships and boats and a re-creation of a 19th-century seaport village consisting of more than 60 historic buildings, including many rare commercial structures that were moved to the site and meticulously restored. As of 2016, the museum received about 250,000 visitors each year.
The Henry B. du Pont 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, including the ''Charles W. Morgan.'' A replica of the slave ship '' La Amistad'' was constructed in the shipyard and launched in 2000. ''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.
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.
File:MysticModel.jpg, Scale model of Mystic, Connecticut as it was around 1870
File:MysticSeaportCatboats.JPG, Children learning to sail in JY15s and Dyer Dhows
Additional buildings house more exhibits. A 40-foot, scale model of the Mystic River area as it appeared around 1870, complete down to the outhouses that stood behind every residence. Another contains a collection of carved ship figureheads. Also among the museum's buildings is the Treworgy Planetarium which demonstrates how seamen used stars for navigation.
Sailing instruction is also offered, as well as tourist rides in various historical small craft that allow views of historic ships at their moorings. Mystic Seaport's music program features sea shanties in their original contexts as work songs.
The Seaport supports research via an extensive library.
With
File:Mystic Seaport Light 2008.jpg, Mystic Seaport Light
File:I Mystic Seaport, CT, USA (2).jpg, Collection of historic buildings
File:Mystic ropewalk.jpg, 1824 ropewalk
File:Mystic_oyster.jpg, 1874 oyster house
File:Mystic figureheads.jpg, Carved vessel figureheads
Mystic Seaport homepage
Mystic Seaport Podcast
{{Authority control 1929 establishments in Connecticut Mystic, Connecticut Stonington, Connecticut Groton, Connecticut Museums established in 1929 Museums in New London County, Connecticut Maritime museums in Connecticut Open-air museums in Connecticut Living museums in Connecticut Boat types Marine art museums in the United States Relocated buildings and structures in Connecticut Ropewalks Maritime culture
History
The museum was established in 1929 as the Marine Historical Association. One founder was philanthropist Mary Stillman Harkness, daughter of the only surviving child of Mystic shipbuilder Thomas Stillman Greenman. Harkness initially donated land that had belonged to her grandfather; in 1945, she would donate his house to the museum as well. The museum 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 gained fame with its 1941 acquisition of the '' Charles W. Morgan'', the only surviving woodenwhaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...
ship.
In 1955, maritime history professor Robert G. Albion of Harvard University established the Frank C. Munson Institute of American Maritime Studies, a summer graduate-level academic program.
Grounds and programs
The Henry B. du Pont 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, including the ''Charles W. Morgan.'' A replica of the slave ship '' La Amistad'' was constructed in the shipyard and launched in 2000. ''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.
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.
Williams College
Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...
, the museum hosts Williams–Mystic, an undergraduate program in maritime studies.
Outreach includes sailing and history classes for area children.
National Historic Landmarks
Four vessels at Mystic Seaport are recognized by the United States government asNational Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
s:
Other vessels
Gallery
See also
* List of maritime museums in the United States * List of museum ships *Captain Joseph Warren Holmes * Whaleboat * John Faunce Leavitt, former curator of Mystic Seaport.References
Citations
General and cited references
* Bray, Maynard; Fuller, Benjamin; and Vermilya, Peter (2002) ''Mystic Seaport Watercraft''.External links
Mystic Seaport homepage
Mystic Seaport Podcast
{{Authority control 1929 establishments in Connecticut Mystic, Connecticut Stonington, Connecticut Groton, Connecticut Museums established in 1929 Museums in New London County, Connecticut Maritime museums in Connecticut Open-air museums in Connecticut Living museums in Connecticut Boat types Marine art museums in the United States Relocated buildings and structures in Connecticut Ropewalks Maritime culture