The Chicago Maritime Museum, located on the River Level of the Bridgeport Art Center at 35th Street and Racine Avenue, opened in July 2016. The museum 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, recreational sailing and the Ralph and Rita Frese Canoe Collection. Designed by renowned architect and CMM chairman emeritus, Dirk Lohan, the 10,000-square-foot museum serves as a window into Chicago’s maritime history.
The museum unveiled two new permanent exhibitions in May 2024, the most significant addition to the galleries since it opened. The exhibitions focus on the Lady Elgin, the deadliest disaster on the open waters of the Great Lakes on a passenger trip from Milwaukee to Chicago in 1860, and on Chicago native, Captain Bill Pinkney, the first Black sailor to solo-circumnavigate the globe around the five Great Capes.
Following the private guided tour of the museum for our group, attendees may continue to explore the exhibits on their own.
$20 per person / $16 for members
All ticket sales final; no refunds or exchanges.