BRIDGEPORT — After more than three decades of building a coveted collection of ship models, anchors and canoes showing the city's nautical history, the Chicago Maritime Museum is now open at the Bridgeport Art Center.
The museum, on the ground floor at 1200 W. 35th St., is open to the public from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays.
"We wanted a place where we could tell our story," said Jerry Thomas, the museum's president.
Offering a close-up view of Bubbly Creek — the South Side's storied waterway where long-shuttered meatpacking plants once dumped dead livestock, grease and chemicals— and an affordable lease compared to anything the group could find downtown, Bridgeport turned out to be the best fit.
"Being on Bubbly Creek, this is a part of the maritime story," Thomas said.
The Chicago Maritime Museum marks the group's first brick-and-mortar facility.
Walking through the bowels of the museum, you'll learn that Chicago has been, at different times in history, one of the busiest ports in the world — a booming engine of commerce that had a tremendous impact on American growth over the past two centuries.
Established in 1982, the museum's collection features 6,000 items, including watercraft, models, books, displays, art, photographs and artifacts.
The museum's artifact collection has everything from anchors taken from famous wrecked ships to navigational instruments, like a sextant from World War II.
An extensive canoe collection includes traditional Native American dugouts, birch bark canoes and modern folding kayaks, spanning every era of canoeing. The museum has collected canoes from sites as far away as Europe, Africa and Polynesia.
The museum's mission is to engage and educate the public about Chicago's waterways and their significance in the history — and future — of the Midwest.
Admission is $10, but if you're 12-21. it's $5. Members, children under 12 and seniors get in free.
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