Museum Collections

The museum’s collections number more than 5,000 objects, and continue to grow through generous donations and museum purchases. Our collections include United States Lifesaving Service and Massachusetts Humane Society artifacts, lifesaving apparatus, lifesaving medals, a beach cart, the ca. 1887 surfboat Nantasket, lighthouse artifacts, including a rare 1903 Fourth Order Fresnel lens from Gurnet Light, ship and lighthouse models, ship fittings, shipwreck fragments, aids to navigation and historical charts, and oil paintings of views of Hull and the Boston Harbor Islands.

Our prints and photographs represent the history of organized lifesaving and the maritime heritage of Boston Harbor through engravings, lithographs, photograph albums, scrapbooks, magic lantern slides, journal articles, rare books, and an extensive collection of historic postcards.

Small craft in the museum collection include dories and tenders, an Alden ocean shell, and a gunning dory built and owned by John Gardiner, the progenitor of the 20th century wooden boat revival. The museum's "floating stock," the working boats used in the Maritime Program's experiential education programs, includes two 38-foot 10-oared Bantry Bay gigs, four 32-foot 6-oared Pilot Gigs, two 24-foot 4-oared Whitehall Gigs, as well as barges, curraghs, and surfboats.