U.S. Coast Guard Museum

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The U.S. Coast Guard Museum can be found on the campus of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. This museum preserves and shares the history of America’s oldest continuous maritime service through exhibits of artifacts that span over two hundred and twenty years. Highlights of the museum include steamships, paintings, uniforms, and medals. Visitors can also witness performances of historical Coast Guard duties throughout the complex-activities such as raising and lowering flags and demonstrations of basic navigational equipment. The museum also explores the history of coastal defenses and lighthouses from the colonial period to the present.

Images

Coast Cuard Museum

Coast Guard Museum Aircraft

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

On the shores of the Thames River and right around the corner from Connecticut College and on the Grounds of the US Coast Guard academy, sets a museum that shows the history of the Coast Guard The museum tells the story of the five different federal agencies that were consolidated into the modern Coast Guard in 1946: The Revenue Cutter Service, The Life-Saving Service, The Lighthouse Establishment, the Steamboat Inspection Services, and the Bureau of Navigation.

The museums exhibits are housed in a 50,000 square feet building that is four to five stories high. The U.S Coast Guard Museum has a range of ships, uniforms, medals, and a collection of carvings. It also features figureheads and wood carvings one being from the Coast Guard training ship Eagle. The Museum has a few activities you can watch or interact with as you walk through the Academy. Walking the decks of Braque Eagle and reviewing the Corps of Cadets is a couple of the main attractions in the Museum.

The U.S. Coast Guard Museum is a family friendly facility with interactive exhibits and can occupy hours of your time making your way through. You can also see The Braque Eagle, and see ships docked near the museum. Finally, there are exhibits that pay tribute to Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury who is sometimes referred to as the "father" of the United States Coast Guard due to his support of funding for ships and personnel. Another prominent figure gracing the walls of the museum is Douglas Munro, the Coast Guard's only Medal of Honor recipient.

Sources

U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2014, October 09). U.S. Coast Guard Museum. Retrieved from United States Coast Guard Department of HOmeland Security: http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg092/museum/