Reviews of Door County Maritime Museum (Museum)

jim williams

Ok

Mark Rutan

Good museum lots to look at tug boat ride is $3 more and well worth it. General admission is $10

Samantha Kruithof

Was a great visit. Friendly staff and fun!

Adam Kallin

Good place to learn about the great lakes maritime.

Carl Utecht

Really well done history museum of the area.

Laura Hull

Nice and modern exhibits - everything was really clean and well kept up and quite a few exhibits had interactive elements. It was a manageable size, with plenty of interesting things to see. Overall a good value.

Barbara Landowski

Enjoyed the visit, local history, "challenge" of piloting the boat through the canal, and the entertainment opportunities for 3yr old grandson.

Lori Kroening

Pretty interesting museum and nice size so you're not there all day.. Touring the John Purves tug boat was really neat but be prepared for the steps and close quarters if that is a concern.

Robert Whitney

Lots of fun visiting the history of the area. The boat tours are closed for the winter. Great staff.

Jenna McKay

Breathtaking

John Edward Voigtlander O'Keefe

Enjoyed this museum greatly!

Lori Fry

Great history lessons

Novel Bay Booksellers

Outstanding night for a seasonal fundraiser. Pleasant staff, nice selection of finger food, great company. And of course there's the museum itself. Amy and crew do a wonderful job of telling Sturgeon Bay's and the Great Lakes maritime history. A modern facility with lots to learn for all ages.

William Lembke

Great museum with lots to see. Could spend a couple of days to really see everything. The tour of the ship was awesome!

Bryant Plano

Lovely museum. Took a tour of the tugboat John Purves (although the tour is based on available volunteer hours, so be aware it may not always be available) which was really cool. Lots of great exhibits. Great for those interested in maritime history, and a couple of neat interactive exhibits as well. Models and replicas everywhere, so kids should have something to look at if they aren’t interested in the source material. Highly recommended.

Dennis Brown

Neat museum.

Desiree Larson

Affordable tickets and a great variety of content! Free parking!

Devin Kanzler

Great stop to learn a lot about ships and lighthouses. It's very interactive and fun for all ages. They have activities, a tugboat tour, pictures, models, and even real ships! The place is great and not too big, but can keep people entertained for hours on end.

Hailey Dougherty

Great stop on the way up to the more Northern parts of Door County! Loved the boat driving simulation and the ship wreck exhibit. Bummed that the tugboat was closed when we visited.

Jason DeJoode

Very interesting exhibits. Wide variety. I'll have to come back in the summer to see the boats.

Mike Cooch

Wonderful Maritime museum. Plenty of interactive exhibits. I especially liked the simulator in which you captain a freighter through the Sturgeon Bay canal.

Shari McCorison

Awesome museum. Thunderstorm prevent us from touring the tugboat but will do that next time.

Louis Vizenor

Nostalgic wonderful Maritime engine on display world war II submarine excellent

James Whiteside

We enjoyed it. Our young kids liked the periscope and pirate section where you can shoot a cannon at ships as a type of video game. I would have liked to spend more time there but my kids patience did not allow it.

Ella Jensen

Very clean, very interesting displays. Helpful staff.

Sean H

Great place to visit

Philip Rossing

A lot to see. Kids under 5 were free. They have a working periscope that was a hit with our kids. Lots of model boats and history.

Ann Vandehei

Interesting.

Nancy Doucet

Very interesting lots of information on fishing and early history of Door County.

Nick Wiley

Very updated and informative. There are a lot of interactive exhibits. If you want to know the history of Sturgeon Bay and learn quite a bit about boat building I would suggest it.

Sara Hensel

Wow! So much history on the Great Lakes, great displays and information. The tugboat tour was fantastic!

Andy Fallon

This is a very cool place to stop. I would highly suggest paying the extra three dollars for a boat tour. Tour takes about 45 mins. Highly recommend

Deb Halbach

This museum should not be missed. My husband & I spent at least 3 hrs here. Very interesting & intriguing!!

Doug Hamilton

Take the fire boat ride

Nick Van Dinter

Worth the Time! It was a rainy day in Door County, a great day to tour the Museum. We walked in and was greeted with a warm and friendly hello. We felt welcome. We took the tour of the John Purves tug boat, the gentleman giving the tour was very interesting and informative, he answer all of our questions. The displays were well done and had some nice hands on experiences. It is worth the time!

Erik Maartmann

Fun bathroom decorations and tiles. They are known for the tiles.

Milkman Christian

Fun place! My favorite part is the whole museum was the model area. So much work had to be put into those models. Also love that you guys have a model of my grandpa's navel ship. I LOVE TUGBOATS!

Dorothy Stuart

Love their Christmas Tree display.

cheryl buch

Very interesting. Got to see!!

Sarah Rieger

Great customer service. See of you can steer the ship into the harbor!

linda whyte

Needs much more enthusiastic & knowledgeable guides. Ours was too casual, assuming with a large high school group. And at check-in, we were told half our group would not hv guided tour because we were "late". I was told no specific reservation was needed so when we got there all should have been ok. Not sure why we had to pay the same for tgat half of the group? The kids lost interest, left with hardly any takeaway. Too bad, cuz it's a great opportunity.

Judith Popp

Very informative

John Halbach

Lots to see, very interesting history.

Michael Morrison

Excellent small museum of Door County Maritime history!

Penny Warwick

Nice

Bill Thompson

The museum has a lot of small boat replicas, a working periscope, a gift shop and other hands on learning activities. I would have given it 5 stars if one of the floating tug boats had been open to tour, but they are just for looking at from the dock. However, the tug boats are open to the public to continue looking at from the dock after the museum closes.

Diane Price

Don't miss this place.

Joe Grigsby

Good activity on a rainy day

Paul Norris

Great historical Museum.

Donna Wieneke

Lots of history. Great place to visit

Tony Tomaselli

Neat place! Small but full of interesting displays.

Richard Heitzenrater

It's a great place to stop at. Have been there multiple times.

John Pantermuehl

Wonderful displays...tugboat tour was so interesting great tour guide...

Bill Dunn

Very interesting stop on the way north. Although we didn't tour the tug this year.

Bob O

Ok

Clay Thompson

Very informative great family fun!

John Ireland

Very nice facility with good displays. We spent three hours there and enjoyed every area. Time and money well spent.

Marcia Knapp

So informative. Great exhibits and the tours are top notch!

Kathryn-Ann Cravillion

Fun small museum of maritime history. It was really slow on a day right after Christmas when we visited, so I enjoyed getting to fully appreciate all the sites. My favorites were the exhibit on ships' mascots/dogs, the interactive piloting simulator, and the authentic submarine telescope that gave you a full 360 degree view of the town out the museum roof. The stained glass windows were also lovely.

David Smith

Awesome history in Door County

Lynn Zawojski

This a great museum for the whole family to check out. You'll learn about the maritime history of the Great Lakes and see great displays. They even have interactive activities, like steering a freighter through the Sturgeon Bay canal.

James Wray

Our favorite part was the tour of the tug boat. We learned a lot from the guide about the lakes and the history of tug boats and other watercraft on the lakes. It was amazing how the crew worked and lived on this boat. Well worth the time and money.

Saritah

AWESOME! Tons of stuff to see. Two levels and a very interesting exhibit about dogs on ships. Tons of model ships.

Kurt Tuescher

Interesting look at Door County history.

Lynn Werkheiser

The Door County Maritime Museum is a great place to learn about the shipping industry and how it affected the Sturgeon Bay and Door County area. Very interesting.

Jamie Wolf

VERY cool! Free walking tour outside of awesome artifacts. Admission prices totally reasonable. Brandon at the front desk goes above and beyond for patrons! John Purves tugboat is like walking back in time. Definitely check this place out!

Lila Johnson

Seamen, Ships and Christmas Trees Too As my time in Wisconsin begins to wind down, I recently traveled to Sturgeon Bay, in search of lighthouses. I’ve always been fascinated by them since seeing one in the movie, The Portrait of Jennie. My first stop was the maritime museum to gather some insight into the history of the town. One of the brochures I picked up about the museum offers a scavenger hunt that gives insight into the various galleries in the building. For example, in the Carla & Ellsworth Peterson Gallery, you can look through a 1985 periscope that was installed on the USS Lewis and Clark SSBN 644. It was removed in January of 1992. In the Horton Gallery, I learned the importance and contributions that dogs made as companions to lighthouse keepers and to rescue missions. In the presentation, “Sentinels of the Shore” insights to the history of the lighthouses of Door County is a wonderful tribute. I will admit that I was distracted by the Merry-Time Festival of Trees. (November 11-December 12) I’m a sucker for Christmas and these wonderful symbols, over twenty-five different decorated delights, were a joy. Businesses, organizations and residents adorn each tree in regards to a theme and surprises underneath its branches. The best part is that each one is a part of a raffle that allows you to bid on a tree of your choice. The admission fee of 10.00 provides a ticket to the raffle. The museum offers AAA discount. Overall: This visit was worth the time. They have a nice gift shop that offers shirts, mugs, knick-knacks and a wonderful collection of books related to maritime history, lighthouses and other information. Fingers crossed that I win the tree of my dreams.

Robbybob1

Stopped here on our way home from Door County. Adult prices: $10 for the museum, $8 for the tug, and $15 for both. The museum consists of four areas: two downstairs and two upstairs. There is much to see and history to read with so many awesome models of ships throughout the years. One room upstairs (The Shipwrecks of Door County) was all hands-on activities and items to get a feel for what being on the water would be like. We had read about the possibility of a tugboat tour if they had a tour guide in that day, which they did! We met with our guide, Paul, at 1130. There were 7 of us on the tour. We headed outside where he gave us the background of the tug, John Purves. It turned out that he was one of the volunteers who worked on bringing the tug back to its former glory! After learning its history we boarded the tug and went on a tour throughout receiving info on what the crew would have used the area for, what the renovation folks had to do to fix the area and what was all original pieces. Paul really knew what he was talking about and was a wonderful guide. We ended the tour in the pilot house where we received a little booklet on the tug (free!). Definitely spend the extra $5 for the tug tour, it is so worth it. We spent a total of three hours at the museum and tug, time well spent.

Erin Brey

The Tugboat Tour was the highlight...so interesting!

Tom Cooper

Good for all ages. Nice folks good displays. You could visit for a whole day if you add the outside and tug boats.

Debbi Konecny

Nice local museum. Interesting to tour century old tug. Was a great activity for a rainy day adventure.

John Egan

Nice museum...but please note: The hours posted on door and here on Yelp are not what the actual hours are. We paid at 3 pm on a Saturday and thought we had 2 full hours. We were alarmed when upstairs watching a video when the lights went out and we heard a "click" of the door closing. This was at 4:20. The curator (probably a volunteer) was upstairs thank goodness and we were able to get out. She informed us the museum had been closed for 1/2 hour (? it was 4:20) and they close at 4 pm. The sign on the door says 5 pm. We would have never paid $20 for 1 hour in any museum, not nearly enough time to enjoy everything. Our car was clearly in sight in the parking lot, so it was obvious someone was still in building. Also, we heard no announcement telling us they were closing. Very odd and disappointing experience.

Vasco Baselli

Unfriendly lady was not willing to sell us an entrance to the museum although it was 25 minutes before closing Even after we indicated we understood that we were not able to get to see all and would respect the closing time she refused.

Steve M

History Buffs will love it and so do people that are with them

Jerri Sartore

It would have been perfect but we weren't able to tour the tug. No tour signs were posted.

Kirk Bennett

The tour guide for the tugboat was great and he gave a great tip on restaurants in the area

Rebecca Mills

Fabulous, lots of history.

Jorge Reyes

Very nice good information about ship's.

Kathy Saunders

Fun history tour. Love the vitual captain tour where you guide the craft through the canal.

Joe Loring

The tug boat tour is worth seeing

Jason Suleski

Very nice Maritime Museum in Sturgeon Bay. You get to find out what helped make this town. If your in town and have time this is worth stopping at.

J Dubb

Palmer Johnson was a great industry to have up there, was something to be proud of!

Jennifer Garty

Very well put together and need Museum! Kid-friendly, and very informative. Love the ambience of the center. Clean facilities, and an adorable little gift shop by the entrance. Very family-friendly. Was a huge fan of the lighthouse exhibits, and the hands on activities upstairs. Great place to spend several hours exploring and learning.

Branden Stuck

Good place to visit for some maritime history and very creative Christmas tree display this time of year.

paula kestner

Nice place

Max Molthen

Good but tour of john purves only a 4/5.

Melinda Dee

Lots to see here. It's a tribute to the long and storied history of this corner of the great lakes.

Daniel Dillman

Informative and interesting, but it was very warm inside. Tugboat Tour was great!

Laurie Marcoux

Very nice museum.

Dave Low

If you are interested in the maritime history of Door County 5 stars, 4 stars for landlubbers. Take the tug tour.

Nathan Drager

Amazing display of local history! We are very lucky to have such a precious gem in our community!

REVOLUTION Smith

The tug boat tour was awesome

Erik Breuer

This is a very well-done museum. There has been an annual classic & wooden boat show every August since 1991. The exhibits are also changed quite often, so the museum remains interesting to people who have already visited in the past. The exhibits are very interactive and fun for kids to enjoy as well.

Daryl Hancock

Great place to take your family.

crabby buddha

Small but friendly and easy to navigate

Skip Cady

The tug boat tour was worth it!

Jean Brecke

So much history and maritime lore in one place! Great interactive exhibits for kids. Tug boat tour was eye opening.

NEIL DORNER

I brought my 4 year old son and his 2 cousins (4 yrs old and 2 yrs old) into the Maritime Museum to see the Pirate exhibit and also to go on board the docked boat. Immediately after walking through the door, an elderly woman behind the counter eyed up the children. I asked how much would it cost for entry into the museum and boat. The woman stated the kids are too young. I asked what the age limit was. She stated, "4". I informed her that some of the kids were 4. She then said, "well, the kids are not tall enough." I asked what the height requirement was. She literally held out her hand to a height that was just taller then my kids. There were no posted signs for height requirements. She then coldly said, "Plus, the kids need an attention span of at least 40 minutes." It was obvious my family was not welcome inside the museum or the boat. I have just moved to Sturgeon Bay and I will NEVER give any money to this organization. If you have children I recommend you stay far away from this place.

Kathy Lowery

What a great job of preserving your history...loved the tugboat tour...our guide was great.

rich gruber

An outstanding discovery and well worth investing the time to see it all.

Erin Lau

Museum was very interesting. The tug boat tour was AMAZING!!

Don Bergbower

Very nice museum with interactive features. Really enjoyed as there were less than 20 people there.

MONGO MK

I as a resident of sturgeon bay will no longer attend any further outings or fundraisers for the maritime museum. Due to I was at there last benefit and the men and women of the US. Coast Guard where helping with there beverage tent and the consumers from the area were giving the individuals tips. But instead of those men and women that donated there time out of there busy lives to help for a good cause to keep there tips for there job well done the maritime museum decided to hold there tips. I believe that should be addressed and the individuals should be ashamed of themselves.

Dan Reinhart

Reasonable price, and very clean.

Heather Ulrich atkinson

Went here with my husband so much history and interactive stuff to do there. And also you can take a tug boat tour and a ride on a Chicago fire boat. Its a cool place to go and learn about the area.

Shawn Brotherton

What an interesting museum. We're from out-of-state so was fascinating to learn about the history of the area.

Alan Albrecht

Considering their smaller size this museum does a fantastic job. You walk in the place and come out with a wealth of knowledge if you're willing to read and observe. They cover how things turned up in their area in early 1800s. They cover the shipbuilding the area did during the second World War. Well worth your time.

melinda griffith

Very informative. Great tour.

Bob Klump

Loved the museum. Very interesting.

Russell Cook

Wow, how informative and entertaining! Gotta tour the big tugboat!!

JOHN COX

Harbormaster. Wouldn't let me take out the. Tug

wanetta fisher

Very sweet interesting

Michael Johns

A great place to spend a couple of hours, don't forget the tug boat tour.

MADVIU

Always had fun here when I came with the family. They usually have a different theme every year which is nice. The make-shift boat building competition is always fun to watch. Great direct connection to the tugboat.

Tony Drew

Amazing history and a great interactive experience for families and history buffs.

Lucille Pier

Great place to bring kids, lots to see and do

Bela Messling

Staff were okay and it was not what i thought it was.

Ellen Beno

Very good hisory of shipping and ship building. Many models of ships with ifo. Amazing craftsmanship.

JK Schubring

Great place to visit for all ages!

Michael Graves

Was very fun and informative for the whole family.

Brenda Jefferies

Toured a tugboat! Had great exhibit and several videos about the area lighthouses and shipwrecks. Very interesting!

Andrew Gauger

Pretty cool place. Fairly recent renovations and improvements. Lots of history n the Great Lakes... well revealed at this museum. Worth a stop for history or marine buffs.

Susan Armstrong

Very informative personnel, great tour guide on the tug boat and very well kept museum

Daniel Martin

Nice place smells like poop

Joel Thomas

Always fun!

David Lessmiller

Looking for information on Melvin lessmiller the ship he was on sank and john Rohan rescued the crew.

Scott Ralitz

Enjoyed the museum and the walk through of the tugboat.

Keith sotka

Great area maritime museum.

Sara Waltenberg

I've been to quite a few museums, and while this was clean and had newer looking displays, not worth the $.

Kathleen Eddy

Tour guides were very knowledgeable, plus there's alot of artifacts in the museum that helped me understand the history of Door County

McGyver Barnes

Very cool

Jay Lideen

Wonderful museum if you like history of the boats on the Great Lakes it's the place to go. Very clean very well laid out and thought I had museum.

Lisa Baxter

Fire boat ride was awesome !

Kelly Frederick

Lots of great information! Lots to see! Nice staff!

David Hansen

Nice looking back at yesteryear. Knowledgeable staff on the history.

Paul Kell

Great experience!

Emily Mickelwait

Interesting museum, well done tho a bit pricey. Staff could be more friendly and helpful. Seemed to not want to be bothered by questions.

Kenneth Wright

A great place to learn about the maritime history of Door County.

Laura Kranitz

Great displays and interactive learning exhibits. The current display on shipwrecks was especially good.

Ana Estrada

The tug boat tour is what I enjoyed the most. The museum has lots of history and good exhibitions. The boat simulator was awesome !

Lawrence Dombrowski

Interesting.

Anthony Fugate

The tug boat tour makes it otherwise it's to pricey for what it is

ABRAHAM GEORGE

A good place to look at maritime history

Lorrie Risler

Amazing place if interested in everything to do with boats and ships of Door County. Much to see and learn!

Eugene Bell

Nice place, very clean, friendly and professional staff, great experience

Fred Myers

Great to see so many pictures of the shipbuilding past of Sturgeon Bay. From guys bending wood in the 1800's to riveting steel during WWII, it's good to see this history remembered.

Steve Farris

Nice experience. Opt for the tug tour. Takes 2-3 hours for everything.

Matt Scholze

The tour guide we had was very informative and if you're in the area I would take the tour

leslie springfield

Very interesting. Displays are great and well kept. I'm fairly new to door county so, to see all that's happened in the surrounding waters is very neat.

Paul Liebau

Interesting exhibits showing the history of shipping on the great lakes. Highlight is the tug boat tour, it is worth the extra charge.

Bill Lodi

A MUST see!!!

Bernadette Corsaro

Very nice place.

Rishi Mohindra

Nice selection of models, and tour of tugboat

Gail Ternes

Loved the new displays added since we were there 6 yrs ago. Brought along grandsons (9 and 12 yrs) and they really liked being able to put "hands on" many displays. Enjoyed the ship's wheel on the Elba and the periscope.

A Rose

Cool little Museum withsome interactive fun, nice little gift shop also.

Mary Longoria

Informative stories of the journeys taken long ago. Awesome

Carl Dexter

Very nice place to visit

SJ Bey

A great meusem with an interesting Tucker boat tour. There is so much to learn here about the history of the area and the boats and the people involved.