Capital Campaign - NH Boat Museum

A Museum on the Move. The New Hampshire Boat Museum is on the move. With the steady growth and expansion of programs, as well as the permanent collection, the time has come for a new facility. One large enough to incorporate robust educational programs, fun activities and events for the greater Lakes Region community and beyond. The Museum will help expand the Lakes Region and New Hampshire’s cultural and economic landscape.

Handsome, engaging exhibits of classic and vintage watercraft and lake history are now complemented by robust programming designed to fully engage youth, adults and entire families in active learning through core programs: boat building, sailing, model sailboat construction and racing, and family activity days. Scholarships make boat building accessible to all. Hands-on learning programs for children and virtual lectures for the public are regular features. Summer’s special events attract enthusiasts and the general public from far and wide. These signature programs include the Vintage Voyage, the Alton Bay Boat Show, the New England Vintage Boat & Car Auction, and a biennial historic race boat regatta.

While our founding was based on the preservation, restoration and love of vintage wood boats, the reality is we have become much, much more.

The new year-round facility will be a museum of discovery, education, and fun where visitors, young and old, can actively engage in learning about New Hampshire’s boating, lake history and ecology, while enjoying the splendid lake-side setting.

90% of what we do is about education • 100% of what we do is about our lakes.

The new facility will serve as a key educational and economic engine for the area, proudly displaying the region’s unique wooden boat history while attracting more visitors, students and families through expanded exhibits and hands-on program offerings in an impressive new facility. George F. Johnson, a passionate wooden boat dealer, collector and historian was instrumental in organizing the founders of the New Hampshire Boat Museum. His desire to preserve the boating heritage for future generations has become a reality with the new Museum.

We invite you to consider being a part of the next phase of the New Hampshire Boat Museum as we progress forward into a year-round entity offering a plethora of programs for hands-on experiences on-land and water. Make history with us!

Be a part of our future! To learn how, please call the Museum office at 603-569-4554 or email Martha Cummings at director@nhbm.org.

We SAIL boats.
We CARE for lakes.
We MAKE memories.
We BOAT from the docks.
We BUILD boats.

We PRESERVE our boating heritage.