The Nantucket Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum of

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

is a small, seasonal, non-profit museum dedicated to the history of shipwrecks off the Nantucket coast and in

Nantucket Sound Nantucket Sound_(geography), Sound is a roughly triangular area of the Atlantic Ocean offshore from the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is long and wide, and is enclosed by Cape Cod on the north, Nantucket on the south, and Martha's Vineyard on ...

History

The Lifesaving Museum is operated by the Egan Maritime Institute. It is located at 158 Polpis Road on Nantucket, 3 miles east of town, which is about a 20-minute drive from town. The building itself sits beside Folger's Marsh and is modeled after period life saving stations.

Exhibits

The museum features over 5,000 objects and memorabilia gathered from local shipwrecks from the past 300 years. The collection includes period surfboats, beach carts, Fresnel lenses from Brant Point and Great Point lights, vintage photographs, models of lifesaving stations throughout the island of Nantucket, and models of ships that have wrecked in the past few centuries. Exhibits and programs also include images, films, videos, and lectures about storms at sea causing over 700 shipwrecks around Nantucket.

References

1. http://www.nantucketchamber.org/Museums-Historic-Sites/Nantucket-Shipwreck-Lifesaving-Museum, Assessed August 12, 2012 2. http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/north-america/united-states/massachusetts/cape-cod-and-the-islands/nantucket/24695/nantucket-shipwreck-and-life-saving-museum/attraction-detail.html, Assessed August 12, 2012 3. http://www.nantucketshipwreck.org/welcome-to-the-nantucket-shipwreck-lifesaving-museum {{authority control Museums in Nantucket, Massachusetts Maritime museums in Massachusetts