Preserving and presenting centuries of seafaring history connected to Nova Scotia, the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic has been operating for nearly 80 years. Initiated by a group of naval officers, the Museum has grown into the largest and oldest maritime museum in the country. From small artifacts like a collection of sailors’ knives to large displays like a 180-foot steamship, visitors can experience generations of marine history across the Museum’s many exhibits.

Setting sail

The Museum was founded by a group of Royal Canadian Navy officers in 1948. Originally called the Maritime Museum of Canada, it was first located on the waterfront of downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, at the HMC Dockyard. For its first 10 decades of activity, naval officers volunteered as Chair to manage the Museum until its first director was hired in 1959, mariner and historian Niels Jannasch. Jannasch is credited with growing the museum from a small one-man operation into the major historical collection it is today.

In 1967, the Museum became part of the Nova Scotia Museum, which oversees historical collections across the province. This move expanded the Maritime Museum’s displays to include artifacts dating back to the 1830s. After decades of relocation, a permanent home for the Marine Museum was built during the development of the Halifax waterfront. Then established as the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, it opened at this location on January 22, 1982.

Charting the collection

The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic has several collections that tell the story of centuries of history tied to Nova Scotia’s marine industry. Exhibits begin in the Age of Sail, showcasing models of wooden ships powered by wind-blown sails, navigational tools, and stories of daily life at sea. Visitors can then move on to the Age of Steam collection, showing the evolution to steam-powered ships and the development of larger ocean liners.

The Maritime Museum also has collections that detail major events. There’s an exhibit dedicated to the Halifax Explosion of 1917, including portrayals of Halifax before the explosion, details of the incident, personal stories and how the city recovered. Another exhibit showcases Halifax’s role in relief efforts from the Titanic sinking.

Other collections include those focused on wartime efforts, shipbuilding craftsmanship and underwater discoveries. Finally, there’s a section for the CSS Acadia, where visitors can actually walk on board the 180-foot-tall steamship that’s on display in the Museum.

Today, the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic continues to operate on the Halifax Waterfront. With over 30,000 artifacts and a collection of photos of a similar size, the museum is the oldest and largest maritime museum in Canada. Throughout its 78 years, the Museum has welcomed over 5.8 million visitors who came to learn the details of the province’s rich seafaring history.

Note: A representative of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic was unavailable for an interview; the above article is based on third-party research.

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