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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
o
il 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, photographs 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.
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