The National Museum of the Great Lakes is a museum in the Toledo Maritime Center, a heritage location on the banks of the

Maumee River The Maumee River (pronounced ) ( sjw, Hotaawathiipi; mia, Taawaawa siipiiwi) is a river running in the United States Midwest from northeastern Indiana into northwestern Ohio and Lake Erie. It is formed at the confluence of the St. Joseph and ...

on the east side of

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

. Operated by the Great Lakes Historical Society, it celebrates the natural and built heritage of the North American

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

from a U.S. perspective. The museum is most noted as the docking location of a museum Lake freighter, the SS '' Col. James M. Schoonmaker''.

Description

The National Museum of the Great Lakes (NMGL) grew out of the Great Lakes Historical Society, a nonprofit organization of Great Lakes enthusiasts centered in the

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

area. For many years, the Society operated a small museum in Vermilion, Ohio. The Society moved its operations and opened a larger museum structure in Toledo in 2014, stimulated by the chance to combine its museum functions with the display of a historic lake freighter from the

Second Industrial Revolution The Second Industrial Revolution, also known as the Technological Revolution, was a phase of rapid scientific discovery, standardization, mass production and industrialization from the late 19th century into the early 20th century. The Firs ...

. The ''Schoonmaker'' is, as of 2019, moored adjacent to the museum. The 1911-launched vessel's riveted plates and pre-radar pilothouse show the technology available to shipbuilders and mariners at the beginning of the 1900s. The vessel is open to the public during the warm months. In 2018, the museum acquired through donation the retired Great Lakes Towing Co. tug ''Ohio.'' Plans are to refurbish the tug and open it for tours in the spring of 2019. The NMGL has taken on a growing affiliate role in the discovery, identification, and preservation of sunken ships in

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

. With advances in maritime technology, it has become possible to find and identify an increasing percentage of these hulks. Sunken boats and ships, particularly vessels built before 1900, can be examined to discover facts about boatbuilding and maritime experience that are not clearly written down in historical texts. The NMGL's riverfront museum structure, opened April 26, 2014, attempts to celebrate both the natural and the man-made heritage of the Great Lakes. Primary displays, including model ships, allow a visitor to move through the Lakes' 350-year history of navigation. Physical memorabilia show the moving parts of sailing and steam operation, from rigging and machinery to the cutlery and chinaware used by the Great Lakes' now-vanished fleet of steam packets and passenger liners. The museum is open year-around.

References

{{authority control 2014 establishments in Ohio Museums in Toledo, Ohio Maritime museums in Ohio Museums established in 2014 Museums of the Great Lakes

Description

See also

References