Hudson River Maritime Museum - Kingston, New York

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Tour the Hudson River Maritime Museum in New York

Whether you’re interested in maritime history or you just love touring a great museum and bulkhead, you’ll appreciate a visit to the Hudson River Maritime Museum in NY. This is the only Museum in the state that focuses exclusively on the fascinating maritime history of the Hudson River and its tributaries.

There are both outdoors and indoors exhibits to tour at the Museum. You will see watercraft as well as artifacts and artwork at the Hudson River Maritime Museum

The Hudson River Maritime Museum includes 385 feet of bulkhead on Rondout Creek.. A 100 year old shad boat, a lighthouse tender, a steamboat’s life boat and several ice yachts are included in the Museum’s small craft collection. These vessels and a variety of other ship artifacts are displayed in the East Gallery of the Museum, formerly a working boat shop.

A variety of vessels visit the Museum in the warmer seasons, including historic boats, tall ships, and the sloop Clearwater. During the cold months, U.S. Coast Guard vessels may be docked during your visit. You can tour the bulkhead and see these visiting vessels, watch traffic on Rondout Creek, plus examine a variety of exhibits.

The Museum’s permanent collection has grown significantly since its foundation in 1980. You will see a variety of items related to transportation, commerce and industry on the Hudson River. Prints, photographs, paintings and intriguing artifacts are among the items featured in the Museum’s exhibits.

The Exhibit Hall at the Hudson River Maritime Museum is where you will learn about the history of the Hudson River. The Museum takes a unique approach to the history of the Hudson River by focusing on different topics annually. Ice harvesting, brick yards, steamboats, and sunken ships are some of the interesting exhibits displayed at Exhibit Hall.
The special Hudson River Maritime Museum exhibit in 2008 focuses on Henry Hudson’s exploration of the river in 1609. The exhibit recreates this historic and monumental event with models, murals, charts, and a recreated aft cabin of Hudson’s boat, the Half Moon.

Many special events, festivals and lectures are held at the Hudson River Maritime Museum seasonally. The Museum also hosts a special lecture series Tuesday nights May through October. Boat trips to Rondout Lighthouse are available on certain days of the season, as well.