History buffs visiting Maine will enjoy the Maine Maritime Museum, which celebrates Maine’s maritime heritage and the state’s importance to the global maritime industry.

The museum is in Bath, about 20 miles south of Newcastle Inn on U.S. Route 1. Bath is internationally famous for the Bath Iron Works, a century-old shipbuilding company that currently builds ships for the U.S. Navy.

The Maine Maritime Museum’s grounds are the site of the former Percy & Small Shipyard, the only intact shipyard site in the U.S. that built large wooden sailing vessels. The museum grounds also include the Donnell House, a Victorian-era house once occupied by a shipyard owner.

Visitors to the museum along the Kennebec River will hear stories about dangerous voyages to distant lands, see how a shipbuilder’s family lived in the 1890s, smell the sawdust from historic ship timbers, and discover the wonders and mysteries of Maine’s maritime culture. Permanent museum exhibits include an historic boat collection, the story of the last American clipper ship, the history of lobster fishing, and a look at the revival of the craft of wooden boat building.