CMMFestival 2023 Save The Date!
Thursday, October 26th

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.

The city of big shoulders began with wet feet.
No one tells this story better than CMM.

THE HIGHWAY OF THE WORLD

Not so long ago, water was the highway of the world.  

For thousands of years – and well into the 19th Century -- movement on land was slow, arduous, often perilous.  People explored and thrived largely by navigating waterways.

This fact made the birth of Chicago inevitable.

In northern Illinois, two great watersheds come within reach of each other.  Here, just a few miles separated the Great Lakes, with their links to the broad Atlantic Ocean, from inland rivers that feed the mighty Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico.

Early explorers realized the importance of the place where two watery highways met, where two worlds could come together – where a small patch of ground would become the pivot point for an entire continent.

That patch of ground:  Chicago.
​
Welcome to the Chicago Maritime Museum and our developing story of Chicago’s maritime traditions and impact. We look forward to presenting fresh, new maritime exhibits in 2022 and beyond.