05/22/2026
Celebrate National Maritime Day with a visit to the Chicago Maritime Museum!
CMM has offers visitors a chronological walk through local maritime history including the eras of French fur traders, sail and steam-powered vessels, modern commercial Great Lakes frigates, and recreational boating on the Chicago River and Lake Michigan.
Our most popular permanent exhibits and artifacts over the decade include:
• The Eastland Disaster Collection, which tells the tragic story of the passenger ship that rolled over into the Chicago River in 1915, killing 844 passengers and crew
• Lady Elgin, the deadliest disaster on the open waters of the Great Lakes.
• Captain Bill Pinkney, the first Black sailor to solo-circumnavigate the globe around the five Great Capes
• History of Ships, an 85-year-old WPA mural depicting a tall-masted schooner, a paddle boat and other antique ships
Our renovated lobby space, entitled Muddy Marsh to Metropolis, offers visitors the opportunity to explore Chicago’s history through imagery, film, and storytelling.
In addition to exhibits and artifacts, the museum has also become a hub of learning over the past ten years. With our Third Friday Lecture Series, each month we host a public open house that explores maritime themes of art, history, and cultural connections to our waterways. Visiting from around the country, and occasionally from overseas, a vast number of historians, archeologists, architects, poets and others, have presented lectures that help us reinterpret the city’s maritime culture.
For more information about the museum check out our website: chicagomaritimemuseum.org
