Historic Great Lakes Towns

The Story of Mobility in America in the Maritime Museums of

Milwaukee Chicago South Haven Marquette and Buffalo

Milwaukee lies along the shores and bluffs of Lake Michigan at the confluence of three rivers: the Menomonee, the Kinnickinnic, and the Milwaukee. Ideally situated as a port city, and as a center for collecting and distributing produce, Milwaukee shipped more wheat than any place in the world.

The name Milwaukee comes from an Algonquian Word meaning Good Beautiful and Pleasant Land

The Wisconsin Marine Historical Society is a self-supported, nonprofit organization that collects, preserves, archives and makes available to the public materials related to Great Lakes marine history.
The Great Lakes Collection is maintained at the Milwaukee Public Library, one of the most important repositories of Great Lakes marine materials in existence. The collection contains more than 11,000 vessel files, 32,000 vessel index cards, and over 50,000 photographs and graphic images, along with books, nautical charts, manuscripts, journals, nineteenth century newspaper stories, and ship artifacts.

The Intermodal Station provides Amtrak riders access to other intercity bus operators; the Amtrak Hiawatha line connects downtown Milwaukee and downtown Chicago daily.

Chicago is on the southwestern shores of Lake Michigan. The Chicago Portage connects the Mississippi River and Great Lakes Watersheds. The city's history and economy are closely tied to its proximity to Lake Michigan. While the Chicago River historically handled much of the region's waterborne cargo, today's lake carriers use Lake Calumet Harbor on the South Side. When founded in 1837, most of the early buildings were around the mouth of the Chicago River and the original 58 blocks. Chicago’s history and development stem from its axis at the foot of the Great Lakes.

The Story of Chicago’s Waterways and their Impact on America’s Economy

The Chicago Maritime Museum collects items that commemorate Chicago’s maritime history.  More than 6,000 items have accumulated, including watercraft, models, articles, books, displays, art, images and artifacts.  The collection makes historic materials accessible to scholars or anyone seeking to understand Chicago’s unique historical connections.

Preserving and Divulging a Community's Cultural Heritage with Local Museums

South Haven is a port city at the mouth of the Black River on the southeastern coast of Lake Michigan and a port of call for passenger and cargo shipping lines. In the early 1900s South Haven became a resort town because of its recreational harbor and beaches. It is the western terminus of the Kal-Haven Trail, popular with bicyclists and snowmobilers. 

The Michigan Maritime Museum presents the rich maritime heritage of the Great Lakes and is Michigan's most distinguished institution of maritime research, preservation and education. Five separate buildings offer a variety of engaging opportunities: exhibits on Michigan maritime history, a center for the teaching of boat building and related maritime skills, and a research library. The Friends Good Will promotes tourism in West Michigan by providing the public with a wide variety of cultural and educational experiences. The dramatic story of this sloop speaks to the history of commerce in the early 1800s, as well as her pivotal role in the War of 1812.

Marquette is a major port city on Michigan’s Lake Superior, known primarily for iron ore shipping. The land around Marquette was known to French missionaries of the early 17th century and the trappers of the early 19^th century. The village of Marquette began on September 14, 1849, with the formation of a second iron concern, the Marquette Iron Company. In the late 19th century, during the height of iron mining, Marquette became nationally known as a summer haven. Visitors brought in by Great Lakes passenger steamships filled the city's hotels and resorts. Marquette continues to be a shipping port for hematite ores and enriched iron ore pellets, from nearby mines and pelletizing plants.

The Marquette Maritime Museum Association began in 1980. The Museum was opened in the old City Waterworks building in the summer of 1984. The building is a one story, stone, Romanesque style structure. Area school kids learn their local maritime history along with guests from all over the world.

Stannard Rock Marquette Coast Guard Station provided the support necessary for Stannard’s Rock Lighthouse. The 110-foot sandstone tower was built on a desolate reef first discovered in 1847. Located 44 miles due north of Marquette, its lightkeepers called it the “loneliest place in North America” since it is the most distant lighthouse from land on the entire continent.

The Buffalo area was inhabited before the 17^th century by Native American Iroquois tribes and later by French settlers. The city grew significantly in the 19^th and 20th centuries; immigration, the Erie Canal, rail transport and proximity to Lake Erie fueled trade with the midwestern part of the nation. 

Buffalo is located at the head of the Niagara River 16 miles south of Niagara Falls

The Buffalo Maritime Center promotes traditional hand skills and a craftsman-like attitude while advancing knowledge of the Western New York maritime heritage. The high standards of craftsmanship intrinsic to the work of boat building form the basis of educational programs that encourage self-discipline, self-sufficiency, and the pride of performing meaningful work.

Durham boats flat-bottomed, double-ended craft were used throughout the inland waterways of North America to ferry supplies and people. They were used to transport George Washington and his troops across the Delaware River during the American Revolution and were especially common along the Niagara River to transport salt and lumber from Little Niagara (Fort Schlosser) to Black Rock. Durham boats eventually were replaced in the Niagara region by larger, more efficient canal boats after the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825.

Gulf Coast Travel Itineraries

Houston Galveston Rockport and Fredericksburg Texas Louisiana and Mississippi

Located in the Texas Hill Country Fredericksburg is one of the earliest German settlements with a district encompassing 40 blocks of buildings dating from the mid-19^th century The Admiral Nimitz Museum is a landmark since the late 1800's when it was the old Nimitz Steamboat Hotel.

Rockport is a tourist destination with access to various forms of marine recreation and attractions such as boating, bay, offshore, wade, beach, and pier fishing, duck hunting, waterskiing, swimming, birdwatching, and seafood.

The History of the Texas Maritime Museum goes back to the late 1970’s at the Rockport annual Sea Fair

The Museum’s purpose is to recount Texas maritime history through artifacts, documents, and other materials of unique or historical value; collections and exhibits are based on four central themes:

Technology of offshore petroleum production and transportation

Development of Texas seaports, maritime communities and commerce along the Gulf of Mexico

Exploration and Settlement history of the Texas Gulf Coast beginning with the Spanish and French

The Texas seafood and fishing industry.

Galveston is located on Galveston and Pelican Islands on the Gulf Coast It was the main port of the Texas Navy and later served as the capital of Texas During the 19^th century it was a commercial center the largest city in Texas and a major port in America.

A deep-water channel connects the harbor with the Gulf and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway

The Texas Seaport Museum tells the story of a rich legacy of seaborne commerce and immigration. Look for ancestors in a computer database containing the names of more than 133,000 immigrants who entered the United States through Galveston.

The Center for Coastal Heritage is a resource for practitioners working at the cross-section of the built environment and natural environment and a commitment to coastal resilience, sustainability and environmental health.

Houston is the largest city in Texas and the US South as well as America's fourth-largest. A cosmopolitan destination and home to an energetic arts community, it was founded in 1836 near the banks of Buffalo Bayou. The city was named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the Republic of Texas and commander at the Battle of San Jacinto, 25 miles - 40 km - east of where the city was established.

The Port and Railroad, combined with oil discovery in 1901, has induced continual surges in the city's population. In the mid-20^th century, Houston became the home of the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest concentration of healthcare and research institutions, and NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

Architecture the Bayou City is full of interesting buildings that reveal its past; throughout Downtown and the city's central core, there is an abundance of significant architecture that tells the story of this port and railroad town turned metropolis.

Boating and Cruising the Bayport Cruise Terminal is located on the Western shore of Galveston Bay, 30 minutes from downtown Houston. The state-of-the-art facility is near the Kemah Boardwalk with a 36-foot carousel, a 65-foot Ferris wheel and rides like Aviator, Boardwalk Tower and the Boardwalk Beast, a boat ride that takes you four miles into Galveston Bay at speeds up to 40 mph.

The Story of Mobility in America

Maritime Museums in Historic Towns

The Houston Maritime Museum started out as a small private museum for founder Jim Manzolillo’s extensive collection of maritime artifacts and ship models, now grown to over eight galleries that cover the world of maritime history and culture from early navigation and exploration, to World War II, the merchant marine and the energy industry. Noteworthy is the exhibit on the history of Buffalo Bayou, the origins of the Houston Ship Channel and the port’s impact on the economy of Houston, and the nation.

Industry and the Environment HMM hosts lectures by members of the maritime community and academia highlighting innovation and progress in the maritime industry.

Madisonville is located at on the banks of the Tchefunke River near where the river enters Lake Pontchartrain. Founded by in 1800, as the town of Coquille or Cokie because of the abundance of shells in the area, at the site of the Native American village of Chiconcte. The town was later renamed after President Madison.

Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum is located on the banks of the scenic Tchefuncte River in Madisonville. The museum brings Louisiana’s maritime history to life through unique interpretive programs, exhibits, and publications.

A Historic Journey through Maritime Louisiana

The Museum features unique exhibits that illustrate the innovation, creativity, and perseverance of Louisiana’s people, concentrating on the maritime history of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin, the lower Mississippi River Valley, and the Gulf Coast of Louisiana.

The Tchefuncte River Light Station is a symbol of the dynamic maritime history and culture of Louisiana. The original tower was badly damaged during the Civil War and was rebuilt in 1867-1868 on the same foundation using many of the same bricks.

The Biloxi Waterfront lies directly on the Mississippi Sound, with barrier islands off the Coast and into the Gulf of Mexico. Old Biloxi was part of the First Permanent Settlement in 1699 by French Colonists in French Louisiana. The name of Biloxi in French was Bilocci, a transliteration of the term for the local Native American tribe in their language.

The Biloxi Lighthouse is the best-known local landmark. It was built in Baltimore and completed at the site in May 1848; it is one of the two, out of twelve, surviving lighthouses along the Mississippi Coast.

The First Cannery was built in 1881 to process seafood, an economic development that attracted new immigrants from Europe to work in the seafood factories processing shrimp and other local fish harvested by shrimp boats and oyster luggers.

The Maritime & Seafood Industry Museum was established in 1986 to preserve and interpret the maritime history and heritage of Biloxi and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It offers exhibits on shrimping, oystering, recreational fishing, wetlands, managing marine resources, charter boats, marine blacksmithing, wooden boat building, netmaking, catboats/Biloxi skiff and shrimp peeling machines.

The Museum has brought life to local maritime traditions by replicating two 65′ two-masted Biloxi Schooners that sail on the Mississippi Sound and waters of the north central Gulf of Mexico almost daily. The Museum also conducts yea- round educational programs and a summer Sea-n-Sail Adventure Camp which teaches youth about local maritime heritage.

Rotterdam Netherlands

Maritime Museums Walking Parks and Boat Tours

 Original and fascinating professional guided walking tours. The heart of the second-largest city in the Netherlands lies inside a triangle of main roads. This inner city can easily be explored on foot within this triangle. The relatively short distances make a walk along beautiful and interesting sights and exceptional museums, the perfect way to discover Rotterdam.

City Tours daily walking tours in the mornings, afternoons and during the evenings. Explore Rotterdam, including a guided visit to the St. Lawrence Church, the White House, Erasmus, City Hall, St. Lawrence Church and the Lijnbaan, Europe's first pedestrian shopping streets and much more! After the walking tour, you could take a boat tour along the harbor.

The Museum Quarter from Sonneveld House, adjacent to the Dutch Architecture Institute, you stroll through the peaceful museum park to the stately Westersingel, containing the works of great sculptors such as Rodin and Shapiro and Gallery van Waning, located in a historic patrician house.

The Historic Maritime Quarter & Harbor Museum located on the Nieuwe Maas, a stately 19^th Century neighborhood. On the 'Veerhaven' you can see many traditional seagoing sailboats and yachts, there are no barriers such as bridges or locks making the harbor ideal for sailing ships. Then you will travel by water-taxi to the Harbor Museum in Leuvehaven and its collection of authentic and still working ships, port equipment and engines covering the period 1850-1970.

Parks Tour a fascinating walk through "The Park" on the Maas starts at the Norwegian Seaman's Church Sjømannskirken, located on the Westzeedijk then enter ´Schoonoord´, a 300 year old garden. The tour ends at the Euromast - the tallest observation tower in the Netherlands.

Delfshaven a historic area with over 600 years of history, it was the base Dutch East India Company; the Pilgrim Fathers departed from it wharfs in July 1620. Formerly the seaport of Delft, it is now a Rotterdam borough, a trendy area with restaurants, galleries and the city’s only brewery.

Connect with Tema

for a Travel Experience in Rotterdam and the Netherlands

Local Knowledge – Global Reach

tema@arezza.net |skype arezza1