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Mission
Mystic Seaport is a museum that strives to inspire an enduring connection to the American maritime experience.

Vision
Mystic Seaport will significantly influence how new generations engage with our nation's past, present, and future.

Core Values
Knowledge
Authenticity
Inspiration
Stewardship
Community

Mailing Address

Mystic Seaport
P.O. Box 6000
75 Greenmanville Avenue
Mystic, CT 06355-0990

Contact Us

Map

Mystic Seaport Magazine

Press Room

About Mystic Seaport Museum®

Stephen White

Contact me:
administration@
mysticseaport.org

Welcome to Mystic Seaport!

Welcome to the website of Mystic Seaport: The Museum of America and the Sea. If you have found your way here, it is probably because you either have a love for the sea and all things maritime or you were looking to provide your family with an authentic and memorable experience. While our website has much to offer the first-time visitor, such as planning for a visit, it also provides the member and/or scholar the additional opportunity to explore the breadth of our collection, to undertake some preliminary research, or to gain a deeper understanding of an element of our collection. Whatever your purpose, we hope that you'll linger here for a while.

But the website, no matter how comprehensive, can only do so much. Thus, we invite you to make a personal visit to Mystic Seaport and to take in all that the Museum has to offer. Whether it be a weekend visit to the WoodenBoat Show or the Sea Music Festival, a visit by boat, or a stroll around the grounds in the waning hours of a crisp fall day, the Mystic Seaport experience is a remarkable one! In my short time here (since January 2009), I have come to fully appreciate the magnificent collection, the dedicated and talented staff, and the unique impact of the Mystic River on our Museum community. I hope you will, too. Come linger here at Mystic Seaport. Go back in time yet thrive in the present. There's nothing quite like it!

Steve

Stephen C. White
President

P.S. Click here to read my latest e-Newsletter article.

Public History

Watch the following video to learn about the idea of Public History and what we are, as a museum, doing to bring that idea to life:

Facts about Mystic Seaport

Includes three major components for visitors: a re-created 19th-century coastal village with historic ships, a working preservation shipyard, and formal exhibit galleries.
Is located in Mystic, Connecticut, less than two hours from Boston and New York and less than one hour from Hartford.
Boasts four vessels that are designated National Historic Landmarks - the Charles W. Morgan, Emma C. Berry, Sabino and L.A. Dunton.
Was founded in 1929 by three Mystic residents: Dr. Charles K. Stillman, Edward E. Bradley and Carl C. Cutler.
Is a private, not-for-profit educational institution governed by trustees and funded with a $20 million annual operating budget, provided by admissions, individual donors, foundations, sponsors, food service, the Museum Store, other retail operations, endowments and other investments.

Serves more than 18,000 members from all 50 states and Puerto Rico, as well as 16 countries from five continents.
Includes 19 acres of public exhibition space.
Is administered by 193 full-time staff, 95 part-time staff, 125 seasonal staff and 1,083 volunteers who donate more than 50,000 hours per year.
Has published more than 90 titles.
Was accredited with the American Association of Museums in 1972 and reaccredited in 1983, 1995 and 2005.
Features a variety of higher-education accreditations, including the Williams-Mystic Maritime Studies Program with Williams College.

History of Mystic Seaport

In 2010, Mystic Seaport celebrated its 80th anniversary. Learn more about how Mystic Seaport began and all the growth that has taken place since. Read more about Mystic Seaport's history.

TIMELINE

1930-1949

1930s