Big Jim Celebration

June 13, 2pm

Free, donations welcome



Celebrate Big Jim’s Searsport visit! Join us for an afternoon of fun and music with live performances by The Hot Suppers and BookHead SweetTooth. The museum campus will be open to explore with our featured exhibit Sardineland. Admission is free, so bring your friends, family, lawn chairs, and blankets, and help us welcome Big Jim to campus in style.

Sea Chantey Singalong

June 11, 4pm

Free, donations welcome

Sing along or listen as PMM staff and volunteers lead an afternoon of sea chanteys and sailors’ songs. If you have a chantey to share, you are welcome to lead one. We will also talk about how these songs were used as work songs. Attend once or come regularly. All ages are welcome, and no experience is needed. Our Sea Chantey Singalongs are held on the second Thursday of the month from June to October.

New sessions of POP Studies begin in June.

Our summer sessions will be held in-person at Belfast Free Library. Join PMM to learn how to care for your photos, antiques, and family treasures with guidance from museum experts.

Spots are limited—register today!

Stories of the Sea: Adventure & Heroism on the High Seas

July 1, 5:30pm

Free, donations welcome

True stories of adventure and heroism on the high seas come to life with costumed performers. The evening includes a special performance of the award-winning one act play, The Waterspout, by the Searsport District High School theater group. Learn more about The Waterspout production in this article by Dilyla Brown, a student at Searsport District High School. Bring your own seating and a picnic dinner.

Curator’s Tour: A Deep Dive

July 2, 10–11am & July 8, 5–6pm

$20, registration required



Join Cipperly Good, PMM’s Richard Saltonstall Jr. Curator of Maritime History, for a guided tour of the Fowler-True-Ross House. Explore the stories of Maine’s coastal communities and their deep connection to the sea. Over the course of an hour, key artifacts throughout the house will be highlighted to provide deeper context.

Maritime Craft Workshops for Teens

Tide Pool Friends Puppets or Pillows

July 3, 10am–12:30pm



This workshop will encourage teens to use their creativity to craft a felt puppet or pillow of a sea creature. A Mosman Park beach walk will be included for additional inspiration weather permitting.

Maritime Craft Workshops for Teens

Sardine Can Printmaking

July 3, 1:30–4pm

Teens will be inspired by 20th century Maine sardine can labels to create a rubber block stamp to decorate a cotton draw-sting bag. A visit to our Sardineland exhibit will provide additional inspiration. This workshop is led by local artist and PMM Education Assistant, Veronica Maresh Mead.

Fourth of July at PMM

July 4, 10am–5pm

Free admission all day, donations welcome

Celebrate America’s 250th birthday with free admission at the Penobscot Marine Museum. The day’s admission has been generously sponsored by Camden National Wealth Management.

We have a full schedule of hands-on workshops, interactive programs, and special events—fun and engaging experiences for visitors of all ages. Visit our website for a complete list of events.

Penobscot Marine Museum’s Family Fun Newsletter is a great way for families to stay connected to the Museum’s programs, activities, and stories. Each issue shares simple, engaging ways to explore Maine’s maritime history together—whether you’re visiting in person or following along from home. Join the family fun email list here.

By Kevin Johnson, Photo Archivist

After years of anticipation, Kosti Ruohomaa photographs are now available for purchase as fine art prints through the Penobscot Marine Museum. The Kosti Ruohomaa Collection was donated to the museum by the late photographer’s photo agency, Black Star, which still retains the copyright. While the original agreement allowed us full educational use of the collection, we were not previously able to offer reproductions for personal use.

Thanks to two grants from the Wyeth Foundation, a significant gift from Linda Bean, as well as many other private donations, we have been able to digitize and catalog this remarkable collection by one of Maine’s most important photographers. While work on the collection continues, tens of thousands of images are already available through our online database.

Individuals can purchase these extraordinary photographs for personal enjoyment, with proceeds from sales helping to support the museum’s ongoing work. We invite you to explore the collection, discover your favorite images, and bring a piece of Maine history home while supporting the museum’s mission.

By Cipperly Good, the Richard Saltonstall Jr. Curator of Maritime History

The sound of the steam-powered cranes at nearby Mack Point created the background music of downtown Searsport from 1905 to 2003. The cranes, with their steam-powered grab buckets, unloaded cargoes of coal, salt, gypsum, and other materials from bulk-cargo ships moving commerce through Searsport. When we got a call recently about a possible donation of one of the grab buckets, we jumped on the chance to add it into our collection.

Sprague Energy, who decommissioned the bucket in 2003, opened the Penobscot Coal and Wharf Company in Searsport in 1905 to operate in conjunction with a newly extended Bangor and Aroostook Railroad line. The Searsport facility was one of the largest and best-equipped coal pockets east of New York City. It handled a quarter of a million tons of coal yearly. Over the years, the Sprague facility expanded to handle other liquid, bulk, breakbulk and heavy lift cargoes. In the last decade, Sprague began importing windmill blades for inland installations.

We’re thrilled Penobscot Bay Tractor Tug has continued to support the museum as a Premium Business Member! We are also grateful to our renewing Standard Business Members DownEast Auctions and Page Traditional Boats!

In addition, we are excited to welcome our newest Standard Business Members: The Homeport Inn, Captain Sweetser’s Inn, Yardarm Motel, The Jeweled Turret Inn, Colonial Gables, Seascape Motel, Lord Camden Inn, Grand Harbor Inn, 16 Bay View, Rockport Harbor Hotel, Pentagöet Inn & Pub, Beach Cottage Inn, Alamoosook Inn, Bucksport Inn, Fort Knox Park Inn, Camp Deforest, The Norumbega, Glenmore by the Sea, The Inn at Sunrise Point, LimeRock Inn, The Inn at Ocean's Edge, 250 Main Hotel, The Lindsey Hotel, and The Spouter Inn.

A big thank you for their support of our work to preserve and share Maine’s rich maritime history. Partnerships like this help keep our stories alive and accessible for everyone.

We’ve had some wonderful coverage of our 2026 season lately! The Midcoast Villager featured a great article about what’s ahead, our newest partnership with The Rising Tide highlighted a vintage Sargentville baseball game, and Maine Public produced an in-depth story on the restoration efforts behind Big Jim. We are also excited to share that Big Jim is included as #27 in DownEast's "The Great Maine Scavenger Hunt."