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Open 7 Days
a Week, Year 'Round
Summer Hours: 9AM -6PM
$7.50/Adults, $4/youth (5-17), (4 & under - free)
$5 per peson for tug John Purves tour (subject to availability)
Get directions to this location
View a map of the museum - (700 kb jpg file)
Download our brochure - (3.2 mg pdf file) |
Permanent Exhibits
Home to shipbuilding from the beginning of the 20th century, Sturgeon Bay has had shipyards producing fishing trawlers, Navy vessels, ore carriers and some of the finest yachts in the world. Permanent installations and revolving exhibits are included in our galleries: |
| Baumgartner Gallery |
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Scale models of boats and ships built in Sturgeon Bay include half-hull or plating models, corporate models and folk art models. Also found in this gallery: "Sentinels of the Shore," an exhibit on the area lighthouses with a full size replica of the lantern room of Sherwood Point lighthouse, complete with its 4th order Fresnel lens. |
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A chronological history of shipbuilding begins here in mid 1800 with Indian dugouts and birch bark canoes and continues to the present, including exhibits of the late 1800s Great Lakes lumber schooners; the early 1900 shipyards of Sturgeon Bay; the 1940-1970s war efforts of Sturgeon Bay shipbuilders; and present-day shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay. Interactive elements include "Job Well Done" video presentation, and working periscope -- get a sub's-eye view of Sturgeon Bay. |
| Horton Gallery |
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Steer the steamship Elba through the downtown bridge from the Pilothouse. Featured exhibit, "Ghosts! Haunted Lighthouses of the Great Lakes" through January of 2012. Pass through a lighthouse filled with purported paranormal experiences; test your sensory and psychic skills; challenge reality and learn how perception can be explained. History will blend with legend as it relates to nine of the most significant lighthouse hauntings on the Great Lakes. Three are right here in Door County – Chambers Island, Sherwood Point and Pottawatomie on Rock Island. |
| John R. Asher Gallery |
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The visitor will find an extensive exhibit on the raising of the George M. Humphrey, one of the largest ships to ever have been salvaged, refitted and sailed. Captain John Roen's and Roen Salvage's role in Door County's maritime history is fully documented, along with actual equipment used in salvage operations including a decompression chamber and hard hat diver's outfit. Here, too, is actual dock space for three large vessels. The Engine Room, seen left, includes a collection of antique outboard motors. Also here is Jim's Boat Shop -- actual building space for boat builders where visitors to the museum may see works in progress. In this gallery, history of marinas in Door County is chronicled, along with the first Marine Travelift. |
| Tug John Purves - Tours on the half-hour, 10:00AM to 3:30PM |
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After five years of rennovations encompassing over 27,000 hours of work, the Purves is open to the public for tours. Docents lead guests in groups of 10 on a 30-minute tour of the vessel. See the winch room, the engine room, and the galley; tour the cabins; view the watefront from the pilot house.
Cost of tour: $5 per person.
Availability of tour is weather permitting; call Museum to confirm (920.743.5958).
NEWS: The Purves' war-time service makes the Door County Maritime Museum eligible for “Fleet Membership” in the Historic Naval Ships Association (HNSA). The HNSA has grown into a global institution and has come to be regarded informally as “the world’s third largest navy.” Our application for membership was accepted, and the tug joined other naval museum ships on HNSA website. Click HERE to read more about the tug John Purves' naval history! |
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