Lake Champlain Maritime Museum
Introduction
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Images
Lake Champlain Maritime Museum Ticket Office
Birch bark canoe on exhibit
Schooner Lois McClure. One of Lake Champlain Maritime Museum's two replica ships.
Backstory and Context
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Operating from two locations, the museum offers visitors a broad view of Lake Chaplain’s maritime history. From Revolutionary War ships to a modern diesel powered ferryboat, the list of shipwrecks in Lake Champlain is extensive.2 Shipwreck tours are a popular way for visitors to explore this history. Tours depart from both Perkins Pier in Burlington and from Basin Harbor. Tourist view the shipwrecks via cameras on Remotely Operated Vehicles while the tour ship is anchored above the wreck.3 Temporary exhibits are frequently displayed by the museum. Recent exhibits include “Great Shipwrecks of NY's 'Great' Lakes”, “1812 Star Spangled Nation - Art Exhibit”, “Slavery to Safety: Lake Champlain and the Underground Railroad” and an exhibit of models and dioramas constructed by model maker Bill Kissam titled “History in Miniature: The Models and Dioramas of Bill Kissam.”4
Educational Programs offered by the museum teach enrollees skills such as boatbuilding and rowing. The museum developed a one-hour webcast, that is available on-line, in November of 2009. The webcast explores the Sarah Ellen, one of the lake’s many wrecks. A Blacksmithing school is offered by the museum. A class designed to instruct local educators on the unique ecology and biology of the Chaplain Basin is available. The On-Water Ecology Teacher Training Workshops is designed so educators will be able to deliver labs and activities centered on the Champlain Basin to their students.5
The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum is deeply involved in efforts to preserve the world’s underwater cultural heritage. To that end, the museum established the Maritime Research Institute in 2000. The Institutes principle concerns include the continuing operation of underwater archaeological sites, conservation of recovered artifacts, assistance in managing shipwrecks in Lake Champlain, providing archaeological services to other organizations.6