Our Mission
To inspire an enduring connection, stewardship, and appreciation of the boating heritage of New Hampshire’s fresh waterways through compelling exhibits, experiences, and educational programs.
The heart of every museum is its collection. Our collection supports our mission to share the stories of boating and lake life culture of New Hampshire. The waterways of the Granite State have been a part of the economic backbone for hundreds of years. Now used more often for recreation, the major lakes and rivers were used for transportation of goods and people as well as a means of energy to power the thousands of small mills in towns and villages across the state nearly two-hundred years ago. During the age of industry in 19th century, the mills of Manchester, Claremont, Nashua, Berlin, and others, harnessed the tremendous power of New Hampshire’s largest rivers. With the mills long gone and the lakes and rivers cleaned up after years of industry, recreational use has taken over and drives the tourism industry.
Our permanent collection of over 2,500 objects (and growing) includes vintage motorboats of varying lengths and engine-types, canoes, rowboats, rowing sculls, race boats, ice boats, sailboats, a steamboat, a sneak boat, plus engines (inboard and outboard), waterskis, multiple wooden boat models, half hulls, PFDs, artifacts from historic boats of various types, an art collection, and other boating ephemera. Chris Craft, Lyman, Fay & Bowen, Penn Yan, Goodhue & Hawkins, F.W. Johnson, Dee-Wite, and Milo Craft are just some of the types of motorboats found in our collection. Vintage and classic Mercury, Johnson, Elto, Evinrude, and OMC are some of the types of outboard engines NHBM has among its collection.
In 2022, NHBM purchased a 24,000 sq foot fully climate-controlled facility in Moultonborough, NH which opened to the public on a limited basis summer of 2024 as it continues to be a “museum in the making.” This expanded location will allow for NHBM to upgrade its exhibitions, include more interactive displays, and share a greater percentage of the permanent collection with the public.