Welcome to the Chicago Maritime Museum


Chicago Maritime Museum Debuts Two New Exhibits

The Chicago Maritime Museum announced the grand opening of two new permanent exhibitions on May 17, the most significant addition to the galleries since the museum opened in 2016. 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.


In conjunction with the Bridgeport Art Center's Third Friday Open House, the Chicago Maritime Museum hosts local maritime experts and authors on the third Friday of the month starting at 7:00pm.


Join The Crew

Your membership is valuable. You help to support the preservation of Chicago’s maritime history and culture to benefit the communities and schools of Chicago.

Standard Membership Benefits: 

  • Unlimited free admission to the museum per household

  • Free subscription to the monthly e-newsletter, On the Move

  • 10% discount on all museum store purchases

  • Discount for ticketed events

  • Support of important Museum work, including development of new exhibits​