MuseumTour
"A walk through the Maritime Industry Museum at Fort Schuyler brings with it a vivid presence of seafaring in both bygone years as well as today's present era. The exquisitely fashioned ship models, historic artifacts, nautical photographs and prints, and the host of corporate banners identifying exhibits of the respective steamship companies they represent gives the visitor a true sense of being at sea with those individuals who experienced life in the merchant marine or passenger cruise line industry.
The Fort Schuyler Museum is housed on the campus of the State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College at historic Fort Schuyler, The Bronx, New York. Four sides of the fort's irregular pentagon-shaped edifice face Long Island Sound and its juncture with the East River, and housed the heavy guns which formed the fort's original armament to protect this strategic water way. One of these sides has since been converted to a library. Two other sides, partially used as classrooms, are principally dedicated to the museum. Visitors to the museum enter through fort's sally port, cross St. Mary's pentagon, and enter the center bastion.
Touring the museum is like strolling through passages of time. The museum offers one of the largest collections of maritime industry materials in the nation and is displayed chronologically. The main exhibit area located on the second floor is entitled "The Evolution of Seafaring" and encompasses the history of seafaring from the ancient Phoenicians to present day steamship companies and passenger ship lines. Exhibits in the area include paintings, models of early sailing vessels, clipper ships, turn of the century vessels up to and including the present day, as well as tools and navigational instruments of bygone days to modern times.
The museum is housed in the halls of historic Fort Schuyler, on the campus of the State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College, Bronx, New York. The museum was initially started in 1986 when Capt. Jeffrey W. Monroe, a former Associate Professor of Marine Transportation received authorization from the college to establish the museum. Since then, steamship lines, maritime related companies, maritime history buffs and graduates of the college have donated objects and artifacts. Everything in the museum is a gift or donation.
The museum sections are displayed in chronological order. The breathtaking entrance of the museum sets the tone of your visit. Guests are asked to sign on in the log book. Your tour begins with the Underwater Exhibit with artifacts recovered from ships sunk in and around New York harbor. Visitors then proceed to the right and enter the Maritime College Training ship wing, featuring all eight training ships of Maritime College. Following the Training ship wing is the Hall of Honor, a memorial hall dedicated to graduates of the school whose lives were lost at sea both in peacetime and wartime. One then proceeds to the second deck to an exhibit which presents the Evolution of Seafaring, presenting art, paintings, artifacts, navigation instruments and ship models from the early days of sail to the modern merchant marine. Before you return to the lower deck, you can see a scale model of the Brooklyn Navy Yard as it looked in 1942 and related models in our Military wing.
The lower deck adjacent to the library is the Promenade. At the entrance are the magnificent models of the Reliance, Hansa, Bremen, Argentina Maru and, Saturnia. The hall contains detailed scratch built models of many of the famous passenger liners built from the time of the Titanic to the Queen Elizabeth 2. Of special interest are the many delicately crafted passenger ship models of the master model builder, Frank Cronican. The exhibit of the S.S. United States is dedicated to Commodore Leroy Alexanderson, a 1930 graduate of the college, and features the Captain's desk and chair from the super liner. Again at the forward center bastion you will enjoy our Towing Exhibit and 1250 model exhibit.
Before you exit, please stop by our "Slop Chest" display case and browse. You can order on-line, call the museum office, or mail in a check with your order. All proceeds go towards the museum operations.
The museum is funded, staffed, and operated solely by volunteers and donations. Exhibits are being constantly changed and upgraded. Vice Admiral John W. Craine, President of the college, is President of the museum. Captain James J. McNamara, serves as Chairman and CEO; John Arntzen, Deputy Chairman, Francis J. Duffy, Executive Vice President; Captain Eric J. Johansson, Executive Director; Harold Parnham, Treasurer; William Sokol, Curator; and Patricia Perez, Administrator.
The museum's visiting hours are Monday through Saturday 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Admission and parking are free. For additional details, call (718) 409-7218.
