By Karen Smith, Executive Director

The Penobscot Marine Museum is pleased to join the Searsport community in unveiling a permanent tribute to our seafaring history—a bronze sea captain statue that will grace the front of our museum campus. The statue has been the initiative of Dr. Karen Kelley, a Searsport citizen who was determined to fulfill the dreams of her friend and Searsport enthusiast, Natalie Knox. Natalie passed away in 2023 and left an inspiring legacy of community engagement and service. 

Dr. Kelley quickly raised the funds for the statue from local residents and businesses and turned to the Penobscot Marine Museum for a fitting location to site the tribute. The Town of Searsport will own and maintain the statue. The sea captain was cast in bronze in Hong Kong and traveled aboard ship to the eastern seaboard, following a route that would have been familiar to many seafaring Searsport families.  

The Searsport Sea Captain will stand at full height on a granite plinth in front of PMM’s Fowler-True-Ross House. This site was chosen both for its prominence on Route One and for its place in front of a home that preserves and shares the stories of Searsport families’ life and work at sea. The house’s first namesake, Miles Fowler, purchased the property in 1815, and it remained in the family for 152 years until it was sold to PMM in 1937. Its walls housed four generations of Fowler-True-Ross families, including many sea captains, their wives, and children. Today, a guided tour and exhibits in the home inspire visitors to learn more about our community’s seafaring history and legacy. 

Check out Our Database- We want your Feedback!

By Kevin Johnson, Photo Archivist

Just over two years ago we began the process of changing our collections management software in order to have a more engaging online presence. We successfully raised nearly $70,000 to make this change possible. We knew that this would be a challenging exercise and it has been. Large data transfers are notoriously difficult, and ours was no exception, but we have accomplished a lot in terms of cleaning up the data as we work with the software developer to create the functions we want to offer.  

As we move into the fall and winter seasons, we invite you to explore our online platform and let us know what you think. One can search by keyword, or be more specific with an advanced search that allows for individual fields like Description, Collection, City, or State. Feedback, corrections, print or image licensing can be communicated with us via the Contact Us button at the bottom of the screen. While our physical exhibits are seasonal, our digital museum allows us to reach the public throughout the year and around the world through a platform that is easy to navigate and fun to use. Help us make it better! Start exploring HERE! 

By Shelly Patten, Office Manager

The Preserving Our Past (POP) Studies program was introduced at PMM earlier this year and welcomed enthusiastic participants to our campus for classes this fall. Some came from our local communities here on the midcoast, and many joined us from historical societies and museums from other parts of Maine. Participants received high-quality information and individual attention from our museum professionals as well as the opportunity to network with their peers. When asked “What did you like most about the program?” the responses included “Informal discussion, knowledge of the presenters”, “Being able to ask questions specific to our situation.”, “Learning with others of same interest.”, and “Very relevant to current museum needs.” 



The POP Studies program is geared toward the adult learner, open to anyone interested in preserving history, personally or for their community, and include the topics “Organizing Your Photo Collections”, “How to Preserve Family Letters, Antiques & Heirlooms” and “Intro to Digitizing Photos for Cultural Heritage” among others. The two-hour classes are a great way to learn new skills or brush up on your knowledge of collections care. Our winter session is offered via Zoom beginning in early February. Registration for these programs has already begun, so please check out the offerings and reach out with any questions to Shelly Patten, spatten@pmm-maine.org or call 207-548-2529. 

Mid Maine People and Places Collection added to Museum Archives

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

Longtime PMM volunteer Don Garrold, though no longer active in the day-to-day operations of the Museum’s Library and Archives, has left a lasting mark through a recent donation of his research into the people and places of Searsport. Don made his career as a land surveyor, helping clients with deed work and surveying their property boundaries. In his retirement years, he brought that expertise to his work on Searsport’s town tax assessment maps and historic maps found on the Town of Searsport’s website.

At the same time, he was a reliable weekly presence in the Museum’s Library and Archives, helping researchers track down the age of their houses and mining the depths of our holdings. 

This year’s SardineFest at the Penobscot Marine Museum drew around 1,200 visitors, turning PMM’s Searsport campus into a lively celebration of Maine’s sardine heritage. The event featured live music, a sea-life touch tank, sardine tastings, storytelling sessions, and hands-on demonstrations. The festival complemented the museum’s Sardineland exhibit, which explores the state’s historic sardine canning and fishing communities.

Stay tuned: details for next year’s SardineFest will be announced soon!

Looking for something for you kids to do during school vacations? We have options during February and April breaks, plus two weeks in July!

PMM received some great news coverage around SardineFest. PMM's Kevin Johnson was here bright and early to participate in a sardine tasting with WABI's Morning News. You can watch the video here. The Midcoast Villager wrote a wonderful article about Rita Wiley's time as a sardine packer here, as well as an article with beautiful photos from the day of Sardinefest here.