Cape Cod Maritime Museum

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A black, white, and dark blue striped header image with the text Cape Cod Maritime Museum

In August 2024, I went on a five-day trip to Cape Cod, MA where I visited many museums and cultural organizations, along with quick history stops and trails. My sixth stop was Cape Cod Maritime Museum of Hyannis, MA, established in 1998 to share the history of the region. During this visit, I learned about boats, scrimshaw, lighthouses and their keepers, women of Cape Cod, and building the Cape Cod Canal.

A nondescript single story grey building with red industrial doors at one end A blue wooden sign with white letters Giant anchor in front of Cape Cod Maritime Museum

The Elizabeth and William Graham Scrimshaw Collection stands in a case beside the main entrance, claiming to be the largest private collection on display in Cape Cod. Sailors made carvings on bones and teeth to pass the time while at sea, while the Graham family spent ten years collecting it. On another wall in the lobby, oil paintings and text-heavy panels described lost lighthouses.

Inked Sperm Whale Tooth featuring Carving of 19th century Lady Three glass doors covering floor to ceiling shelving holding scrimshaw White metal tin with "Cape Cod Potato Chip" written on the side and an illustration of a lighthouse
A white flag with a red border and black lighthouse silhouette A short iron stove About two feet tall

To the right of the lobby, a pair of rooms held plenty of model boats in a range of sizes with emphasis on the catboat style. Next to one larger boat model was a sign displaying the size of frenal lenses, where visitors could compare their height to the height of the lens. To the left of the lobby was a sign-based exhibit highlighting women of Cape Cod and the Islands. Famous women included abolitionists and suffragist Lucretia Coffin Mott of Nantucket, suffragist and Methodist minister Dr. Anna Howard Shaw of Dennis, World War II Coast Guard officer Vera Hamerschlag Cheney, and high seas kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Vickery Collins. I loved the opportunity to see this often forgotten stories, but the amount of text was more suited for a book than an exhibit.

Catboat Model with a Cat on the Sail Catboat Model with a Plain Sail On a sign at actual size with biggest at left and smallest at right
Wooden Book with hand-painted text and the silhouette of a ship White text on blue painted wall above text-heavy signage A pair of late 19th century women's dresses on life size mannequins

In the same area where a pair of exhibits on the heroism of lighthouse keepers and digging the Cape Cod Canal. Much like the exhibit on women of Cape Cod, the information was fascinating but would have been better suited as a book. I loved seeing the lighthouse keeper uniform, a model of a canal digging machine, and many maps of Cape Cod. One fun fact that I learned from these exhibits is that the canal was sponsored by August Perry Belmont of New York, the same man who started the Triple Crown horse race Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park. Additionally, he was the grandson of naval Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, a director of the Wright Company for early airplane manufacturing, a president of the American Kennel Club, and owner of Belmont Hotel in New York City. Overall, the canal was a financial disaster, and Belmont lost a chunk of the family fortune.

19th century woman sea captain outfit on mannequin next to ship steering wheel Matching blue hat, button up coat, and pants The left uniform is blue, and the right uniform is white.
Black text on a golden painted wall above maps, photographs, and text-heavy signage A long crane on the left of the machine halls up sludge to deposit in a barge in front of the machine. Empty except for half-fixed boats

On the bottom floor of the building is an antique boat restoration workshop. I was told that the expert repairman was busy at work, but I never did see him. In a large storage shed behind the main building were many vintage boats with yet more signage. I liked being able to see the variety of boats made in the area, but the text was sometimes difficult to read between font size and lighting. An audio tour option would have made every exhibit much more enjoyable.

A large catboat under an open-air shed A two story building with a blue wooden sign reading "Cape Cod Maritime Museum" hung below the second floor windows Antique Boats in a Shed

This museum is open all year, Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults; $8 for seniors, students, and veterans; $5 for children ages 3 to 5 plus groups of ten or more who book ahead of time; and $0 for children under 3, active duty military, first responders, and NEMA members (like me!). The museum website mentions the space being ADA compliant, possibly because it has an entrance ramp and an elevator. However, lighting was inconsistent, galleries had little to no seating, and several loud videos played on repeat with no option for the visitor to pause them or turn down the volume. Additionally, the website contains many contrast errors from white text on a light background, along with no alt text for images and icons, a header menu that was difficult to navigate, and no search button. True to its name, Cape Cod Maritime Museum was by far the most comprehensive history of Cape Cod that I could find and is a great stop for invested historians, although people with a more casual interest in history will be overwhelmed by the amount of reading.


Abby Epplett’s Rating System

Experience: 7/10

Accessibility: 5/10



Location: 135 South St, Hyannis, MA 02601, USA