Lighthouse Museums

The largest lighthouse museum in the United States is right here in New England, thanks to the 2007 merger of Rockland’s Maine Lighthouse Museum with the collections of the American Lighthouse Foundation, an advocacy and preservation organization, formerly based in Wells, Maine. Paintings, photographs, artifacts, lectures and presentations, and more. 1 Park Drive Rockland, ME 207-594-3301 mainelighthousemuseum.com/lighthousefoundation.org/ On a fragile-looking spit of land jutting into Boston Harbor from the south sits the Hull Lifesaving Museum, whose mission is to preserve the region’s maritime culture through its collections, exhibits, and other programs. It’s based at the Point Allerton U.S. Lifesaving Station. The tradition of lifesaving in Hull dates back to the post-Revolutionary period and reached its peak some 100 years later with the Hurricanes of 1888 and 1898. Hull crews are credited with saving more than 1,000 lives over the course of the century and a quarter before the U.S. Coast Guard was created. Hull Lifesaving Museum Open year-round 1117 Nantasket Ave. Hull, MA 781-925-5433 lifesavingmuseum.org/ Also in Massachusetts, on the island whose shoals were once dubbed “the graveyard of the Atlantic,” the Nantucket Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum showcases a collection of more than 5,000 objects, including period surfboats and rescue beach carts, lifesaving equipment, vintage photos, Fresnel lenses, shipwreck-history exhibits, and more. Fee includes admission to the historic Coffin School, which houses the art and artifact collections of the Egan Maritime Institute, celebrating the island’s seafaring heritage. Nantucket Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum Open through Oct. 12 158 Polpis Road Nantucket, MA 508-228-1885 nantucketshipwreck.org/ Egan Maritime Institute Coffin School 4 Winter St. Nantucket, MA 508-228-2505 eganmaritime.org/welcome-to-the-egan-maritime-institute