News at the Museum
To receive press releases or for more information, contact Sabrina Kettell, skettell@pmm-maine.org or 207-548-2529.
Searsport museum’s shipwreck exhibit chronicles dramatic ends
SEARSPORT — For decades, the town has boasted of its sea captains and their voyages to the four corners of the world. If there were any doubt about the truth behind this pride, a visit to the True-Fowler-Ross House, a 19th century residence now part of the Penobscot...
Rescue at sea leads to big payoff for Maine man
SEARSPORT, Maine — Nearly 20 years ago, Capt. Skip Strong responded to a distress call from an ocean-going tugboat that was in trouble off the coast of Florida during Tropical Storm Gordon. As it turned out, his decision to help the five men aboard the distressed...
Community Members Learn Sea Safety Skills in Searsport
Searsport - Commercial fishermen are required to have certain safety equipment on board their vessels, but survival instructors say pleasure boaters should too. Community members learned sea safety skills at the Searsport town dock on Wednesday. "Disasters still...
Searsport, Maine is a destination all its own
The first question anyone will ask you in Searsport, whether you’re checking into a motel or tearing into a boiled lobster, is “Where are you headed?” As though you’re not already someplace. Thus, it’s easy to feel a little sorry for Searsport, or to find yourself...
Deirdre Fleming: A high seas hero returns to his hometown to share his story
Tim Garrold never planned on a life of adventure at sea when he graduated from Searsport High School. Even when he mowed the lawn at the Penobscot Marine Museum, never did he imagine one day he would be a featured speaker there, sharing tales of maritime rescues in...
Young Colorado girl takes on role of Abbie Burgess as 1856 Maine lighthouse keeper
Melanie Rosenberg, 11, of Boulder, Colo., uses gestures to show the fortitude of teenage lighthouse heroine Abbie Burgess during a living history performance last week at the Penobscot Marine Museum. Click here to read the full story by Abigail Curtis at the Bangor...
Grants Help Museum Speed Up Online Photo Archiving Process
The Penobscot Marine Museum recently received two grants to make the job of archiving these pictures online a lot easier, and quicker. "We came up with the idea of using a high end 35 mm SLR camera to do that so it would be an instant capture. The grant allowed us to...
Maine Boats & Builders: Old Ways & New
A playlist of five complete presentations from the 2011 history conference, consisting of: Boat Building in South Bristol, Maine, by David Andrews Comparative Study of Maine Peapods, by David Cockey Evolution of the Maine Lobster Boat, by Jon Johansen Friendship...
Spitfire
Peabody Essex Museum Maine shipyards turned out about sixty of the over 400 clippers built to satisfy the need for speed generated by events in the mid-nineteenth century. The 1849 California Gold Rush, the 1851 Australian Gold Rush, and Britain’s use of American...
The Worlds of Jacob Pike
A Video by Blake Hendrickson, Basic Explanations Studio Penobscot Marine Museum was instrumental in saving the Jacob Pike, a historic Maine-built sardine carrier. Sardine fishing and packing once formed important financial and cultural bases of Maine's coastal...
Art Afloat
Art Afloat – Slideshow of PMM-sponsored traveling exhibit of dioramas by Anne-Emmanuelle Marpeau aboard the vessel Sunbeam V. August 2011. Click here to view the slideshow
For Those in Peril: The Waterspout vs. the TROVATORE
Without the aid of NOAA weather radio or hurricane and storm tracking software, sailors had to rely on their weather eye and sound judgment to head for shore or batten down the hatches for a storm. Shown here is the watercolor of the TROVATORE which wrecked when a...
For Those in Peril: Shipwreck Affects Four Searsport Families
Captain’s sons who wanted to go to sea learned on ships commanded by their father’s friends and colleagues. It was a sad day when a ship went down with young men aboard. The story of the wreck of the ELIZABETH is one of loss for four Searsport families. Her master,...
For Those in Peril: Rescuing Fellow Mariners
When a ship suffers disaster far away from the nearest Coast Guard Base, the Coast Guard puts out a call to other civilian and naval ships in the distressed vessels area to come to their aid. This age old tradition of assisting your fellow mariners in need often goes...
July 2013 Signal Flags
Pen Bay Day! Join the party on Saturday, July 6th! Penobscot Marine Museum celebrates our wonderful community and the summer season with a gigantic celebration. Come see an underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle from OceansWide, watch Revolutionary War re-enactors fire...
For Those in Peril: Confederates on the High Seas
War put civilian merchant ships at risk as the opposing side sought to disrupt commerce. The Confederate raiders terrorized Yankee shipping on the high seas. The JOSEPH PARK of Searsport was burned by the Confederate privateer SUMTER. A sister ship from Searsport,...
CLARISSA B. CARVER v. GLENMORGANSHIRE
As shipping traffic increased in the 1800s, the number of collisions between ships rose. The reason? "The other guy wasn’t paying attention and hit me" or "I had the right of way!" The rules of the road (sailing vessels with less maneuverability have right of way...
May 2013 Signal Flags
For Those in Peril: Shipwrecks, Memorials, and Rescues Celebrate Penobscot Marine Museum's 2013 season! Join us for the opening reception of this exciting exhibit, share delicious victuals and ale. Stories of "those in peril" will come alive for visitors to the...
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Penobscot Marine Musuem
Penobscot Marine Museum
40 E Main Street | P.O. Box 498 Searsport, ME 04974
Phone: 207-548-2529
Hours
We will re-open May 22, 2026
Thanks for a great season! Penobscot Marine Museum's campus is now closed for the winter.
Mission
Penobscot Marine Museum inspires curiosity and fosters understanding about life and work on the Maine coast to encourage stewardship of our communities and the sea.
