North Carolina Maritime Museum - North Carolina Museums

North Carolina Maritime Museum
315 Front Street
Beaufort, NC 28516-2125

Phone (252) 728-7317

. . . Statement of Purpose

The North Carolina Maritime Museum documents, collects, preserves, and researches the maritime history�and its corollary natural history�of coastal North Carolina for the purpose of interpreting this history through educational services and exhibits for our contemporary society, and passing intact its material culture to future generations.

. . . We Serve

The Maritime Museum strives to reach a broad and diverse audience of families, children, the elderly, ethnic minorities, and the physically challenged. An annual visitation of more than 180,000 people includes 60 percent in-state, 35 percent out-of-state, and 5 percent foreign. Some 10,000 school children visit the museum every year for general tours, special children's programs, and the Summer Science School for young students.

Watercraft Center - NCMM All of the museum's programs and exhibits, both general and specialized, interpret the state's cultural maritime history and offer a larger national perspective on coastal environment and barrier island ecology.

The museum and its facilities�especially its auditorium, library, and Watercraft Center�are made available to community, civic, and educational groups. The Chamber of Commerce, Professional & Business Association, Library Board, Coast Guard Auxiliary, and others frequently use the museum auditorium, the only local hall that will seat more than 100 people.

Audience diversity is a major goal of the museum, and to that end it offers special educational programs and temporary exhibits to targeted audiences. There is an annual "Family Day" that encourages family unit participation, summer Discovery Times for children, and an annual "Wooden Boat Show" designed for traditional boat enthusiasts.

The museum also sponsors traditional and classical music concerts, participates in the Beaufort Music Festival, and in the Beaufort Old Homes Tour. One of its most successful music programs (researched and encouraged by museum staff) has been the African American Chantymen, a group of retired menhaden fishermen who perform traditional work songs.

The museum holds special workshops and training programs for school teachers, some of them for renewal credits. Its Education branch sends teacher packages to thousands of the state's teachers to prepare them for museum tours and for special programs. Several museum programs provide scholarships for low-income school children.

The North Carolina Maritime Museum is in compliance with all ADA regulations. All entrances, bathrooms, and water fountains permit wheelchairs and special tours are given for the physically challenged.

The museum distributes 150,000 brochures annually to schools and visitation centers, sends regular news releases to 55 news media units, and has publication exchange programs with numerous national and international museums. Its programs are frequently filmed and aired on area television channels. It participates in cooperative programming and exhibits with the North Carolina Aquariums, the Carteret County Museum of History and Art, the Beaufort Historical Association, Duke University Marine Laboratory, North Carolina Marine Fisheries, NOAA - National Marine Fisheries, and the National Park Service. With the latter, it operates a year-round marine field station at Cape Lookout (suspended as of 2008).

Junior Sailing - NCMM The Maritime Museum is open 360 days each year from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. weekdays, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturdays, and 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays, closing only for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day holidays (call for exact dates).

The regular museum schedule does not begin to cover the extracurricular evening and weekend programs provided by the museum. The museum is open numerous evenings for special lectures, concerts, and community functions. The Watercraft Center offers evening and weekend classes in boatbuilding, model building, and half-model construction. The Cape Lookout Studies Program (suspended as of 2008) conducts overnight field programs of several days' duration. The museum's Gallants Channel Annex is used evenings and weekends for special classes and community programs. Field trips are often offered after-hours and on weekends.

The museum, recognizing its diverse audience and need for flexible scheduling, strives to make its facilities available to the greatest number of people at all times. Its "shoulder month" programs solicit nearby Elderhostel groups and late-fall vacationers; its "Summer Science School" and "Junior Sailing Program" are aimed at young students on vacation.

© 2002-2007 North Carolina Office of Archives and History. All rights reserved.