Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is one of the premier indoor/outdoor museums focusing on the history and traditions of the Chesapeake Bay. It is dedicated to preserving and exploring the history, environment, and people of the Chesapeake Bay.
Located in St. Michael's, Maryland on 18 acres fronting the Miles River, the complex houses examples of historic bay working boats, numerous exhibits, guns, decoys, ship models, and the 1879 Hooper Strait Lighthouse. An array of interactive programs, workshops, and lectures are offered throughout the year.
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Hours
The Museum and Museum Store are open year-round.
May to October, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
November to April, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Closed: Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s days
CBMM Inclement Weather Policy
CBMM may from time to time be impacted by adverse weather conditions. CBMM posts any weather closings on our website and generally closes due to winter weather conditions when Talbot County public schools are closed. To check if Talbot County public schools are closed, please click here www.tcps.k12.md.us/.
(Note: Many places fill to capacity on busy, nice weather days, especially holiday weekends. Please call ahead or visit the official website to get the most up-to-date information before visiting.)
Fees
General admission is good for two days, excluding festivals.
$15 – Adults (ages 18-61)
$12 – Seniors (62+)
$12 – Students (age 17+ with college ID)
$12 – Retired Military (with ID)
$6 – Children (ages 6-17)
FREE* – Active Military
FREE – Children (ages five and under)
FREE – CBMM Members
Activities
The museum offers a number of tours for 2nd through 12th grade groups, bird watching cruises during fall migrations, lighthouse overnight adventures, carving workshops, and lectures on history of the Bay. Two large annual events are the OysterFest and Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival.
History
The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum was founded in 1965 on Navy Point in St. Michaels, a Talbot County riverfront village on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The Museum’s 18-acre waterfront campus was once the site of a busy complex of seafood packing houses, docks, and workboats. A landmark on the campus, the Hooper Strait Lighthouse, has not always resided in its current location. In 1965 it had been condemned by the United States government and was slated to be demolished. The Museum purchased it from the demolition contractor for $1,000 and through the generosity of the Arundel Corporation, barged it sixty miles north to its new home on Navy Point in 1966.
Today, there are 35 buildings, 10 of which house exhibitions that are open to the public. Ten exhibition buildings trace the geological, social, and economic history of the Chesapeake Bay through the age of sail and the steamboat era to the advent of the gasoline and diesel-powered engines. The Museum’s Howard Chappelle research library holds more than 10,000 volumes. The Museum’s collection of Chesapeake Bay watercraft is the largest in existence numbering about 85 boats. Eleven of the collection’s largest vessels are on floating display at the Museum’s docks. The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is the only museum devoted to interpreting the entire maritime region of the Bay.
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