Mystic Seaport Museum: Seaport Village, Part 1

I took a three day mini-vacation to the Mystic / Lyme area of Connecticut and visited many museums, houses, and other history stops. Nearly half my time was spent at Mystic Seaport Museum, a living history museum in Mystic, CT. The attraction was so expansive that I am creating a six-part miniseries about the fantastic experience. These posts will include two parts on “Seaport Village”, “Preservation Shipyard”, “Galleries”, “Boats, Signs, & Shows”, and “Bonus Houses”.

Exterior view of the Mystic Seaport Museum's Thompson Exhibition Building with people near the entrance, a boat on display, and a church in the background. The building has a distinctive modern design with an arched, wood-paneled facade and large windows. The entrance features a set of stairs leading up to double glass doors flanked by potted plants. The building's name is prominently displayed above the entrance.

What Is Mystic Seaport?

Formerly a village inviting whaling ships into port, Mystic Seaport Museum was founded in 1929 as the whaling industry ended. The museum is 19 acres in size and owns over 500 boats, an evident fact when I visited, as antique boats were stored in every spare space due to an in-progress renovation for a new boat hall. A combination of actors, craftspeople, and maritime experts guide visitors through the model village and engaging programs. While these employees generally do not wear costumes as seen at Old Sturbridge Village, Plimoth Patuxet Museums, or select houses in Strawbery Banke, the experience is fully immersive and one of the most fun ways to learn history. Where else would one find an interactive exhibit on the temperance movement or an exhibit local oyster company inside an oyster processing building?

Historic buildings along a shaded street with a white building labeled “CRAB’S ALES 5¢ the Glass,” outdoor seating area, large tree, and people walking.

Historic building with a banner reading "Temperance Meeting Today - Amelia Jenks Bloomer to speak on The Evils of Drink!"

Green wooden building on stilts labeled "THOMAS OYSTER CO." with docks and boats nearby.

Coopers, Printers, and Hoop Makers

Much like other living history museums, Mystic Seaport has a cooper or barrel maker, along with a working printshop. An interpreter explained the complex process to making barrels by hand, which included precision cutting each piece of wood or stave to fit together at a slight angle, and then adding a set of metal hoops to keep the wood tight together. The print shop include a live demonstration and a take-home paper. The sheet included a list of words and phrases that came from early printing, including uppercase versus lowercase letters, “mind your ps and qs”, stereotypes, cliches, and “make a good impression”. One shop not found elsewhere was the hoop makers. The round wooden hoops were more than children’s toys. These hoops allowed the sail to slide up and down the mast.

Rustic workshop interior with assorted barrels, tools, and a hanging barrel pulley system against a brick structure and cast-iron stove.

A dark brown shingled historic building with white-trimmed doors and windows is identified by a sign reading “COOPERAGE.” The building has open barn-style double doors at the front with a small set of stairs leading up to them.

An antique printing press in an old-fashioned printing workshop with shelves and drawers filled with books and papers in the background.

Wooden Hoops Suspended from the Ceiling at the Hoop Maker Shop

Clocks, Chronometers, and a Fire Engine

I saw plenty of similar products at the American Clock & Watch Museum in Bristol, CT back in 2022, but this shop also held sea voyaging artifacts. Sextants were used to navigate while on the water by finding the angular distance between two known celestial objects or landmarks. This was paired with a marine chronometer to check the exact time of day. Almanacs or star charts gave exact locations of celestial bodies at different times of the year, while printed tables prevented sailors from having to do fancy math. Back on land, fire was a major problem for any 19^th century village but especially for one dealing in whale oil. An early fire engine stood in a rustic shed alongside two vintage bicycles, and it looked similar to “The Fire Queen” of Attleboro, MA and an unnamed model from The Fire Museum of East Texas. I am slowly and unintentionally becoming an expert in early fire engines.

A room with wooden walls displaying various antique items and clocks, with a central window, hanging lamps, and a glass display case containing historical artifacts.

Clock Shop Sign reading "Nautical Instruments Chronometer, Watches, Clocks, Sextants, Quadrants"

Vintage red fire engine with large wooden wheels and white metalwork and two antique bicycles inside a rustic wooden shed.

A Smith and a Lighthouse

Every living history museum needs its own blacksmith shop with bonus points if a live blacksmith is employed. Mystic Seaport scored these points, as a talkative blacksmith worked the forge and answered every question from eager visitors. A more unique feature, fitting with its maritime theme, was the little white lighthouse by the edge of the water. Unfortunately, this Brant Point Lighthouse replica based on a building from Nantucket was closed at the time of my visit, so I could not see the exhibit “Sentinels of the Sea”, which would have told me even more about lighthouses. At least I was still able to get cute pictures.

A rustic wooden shingle building with two brick chimneys and a sign above the door reading "J.D. DRIGGS, SHIPSMITH & WELDING MFR."

Little Baby White Lighthouse at Mystic Seaport Museum

Blacksmith working in the blacksmith shop at Mystic Seaport Museum

Wooden James D. Driggs Shipsmith sign attached to the smith building at Mystic Seaport Museum

Lots of Rope

A two hundred and fifty foot (76.2 m) long wooden building was once part of the Plymouth Cordage Company ropewalk. Owner Bourne Spooner of Plymouth, MA constructed the building in 1824, and the business ran for 123 before closing its doors in 1947. The original building was over three times the length at over one thousand feet (300 m) long. The building housed a thorough exhibit on how rope was made in three time consuming steps before the era of modern machinery.

Two historic buildings: a tall white building labeled "Ship Chandlery" and a smaller wooden "Plymouth Cordage Company" building, under a clear blue sky.

A maritime storage area with massive coiled ropes, lanterns, tools, oars, and a wooden barrel.

Interior of the wooden Plymouth Cordage Company ropewalk. The space is filled with boats amid suspended rope.

A rack of giant spools inside Plymouth Cordage Company ropewalk.

Brown Buildings

Two rather plain brown buildings finish up the first part of my tour of the Seaport Village. One building housed the “Mystic River Scale Model”, a massive diorama set in the early 19^th century showing not only the land now used for the museum but also the rest of Mystic and its river. I will have more details about the diorama in my upcoming posts about the galleries of Mystic Seaport. The other brown building was the New Shoreham Life-Saving Station. This Gothic Revival style building was part of the United States Life-Saving Service, which began by an act of Congress in 1871. The operation of the service ended in 1915 when it merged with the Coast Guard. This particular station was built on Block Island in 1874 and bought by Mystic Seaport in 1968.

The back of a wooden building with a sign that reads "Mystic River Scale Model," featuring two white doors and central windows, under a clear blue sky.

The front of a wooden building with a sign that reads "Mystic River Scale Model," featuring a central and windows on either side, under a clear blue sky.

Historical wooden life saving station with a ramp, boats inside on a waterfront.

The Life Saving Station Viewed from the shore

The rating for this museum will appear at the end of the sixth post in the miniseries.

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Abby Epplett, Historian