Annapolis Maritime Museum

723 Second St
Annapolis MD, 21403

(410) 295-0104

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The Annapolis region is forever linked with the Chesapeake Bay, the oyster industry, and a proud maritime history. The historic McNasby Oyster Company was the last oyster packing plant in Annapolis and serves as the home of the Annapolis Maritime Museum. The maritime heritage exhibits, environmental education programs, and engaging community events held at the Museum Campus have established the Museum as a beloved community anchor.

With a direct view of the Chesapeake Bay, the campus includes the exhibit room, three transient piers, an adjacent beachside park with wooden boat exhibits and kayak launch point, a research library and a rotating, maritime-themed art gallery.

Located across Back Creek from AMM’s Museum Campus is the museum’s newest addition: the Ellen O. Moyer Nature Park (Park Campus). This renovated, 12-acre park accommodates the AMM’s ever-expanding education programs, helping to further develop the curriculum to include natural sciences through hands-on activities at the campus’ urban ecology park. The enhanced educational program will place the Museum in a stronger position to fulfill its mission of inspiring a love of the Chesapeake Bay for generations to come. An old waterworks building on site has been restored and converted to classrooms for hosting school programs and summer camps, while future plans include event space and a replicated maritime village. With the addition of the Park Campus, AMM expects to significantly add to, and expand, its existing programs to cater to up to 15,000 students annually. The Park is located at 7300 Edgewood Road Annapolis, MD 21403.

Virtual Experiences

Annapolis Maritime Museum is dedicated to educating the community in order to cultivate lifelong environmental literacy. Online resources allow you to continue learning from anywhere about the Annapolis area’s rich maritime heritage and the ecology of the Chesapeake Bay.

Or explore AMM’s virtual exhibits:

Virtual Tour

Before the current installations had their debut, the Museum featured exhibits that focused on local watermen. Join Kat Spitzer from VisitAnnapolis as she leads  a tour of the Waterman Exhibit at the Annapolis Maritime Museum (a previous exhibit at the museum):

  • Field Trips
  • Guided Tours
  • School-Based Experiences

Hours of Operation

The Museum (Museum Campus) is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday (year-round excluding major holidays).

Admission

Admission is $7 for adults, $5 for children (3-12), military, and seniors (65+), and free for members and children under 3; donations are appreciated.

School Programs

Elementary School

Animal Investigation

Explore the habitat, life cycle, and body structures of a variety of animals that make their home in the Chesapeake Bay. Meet the critter that live on an oyster reef, dissect an oyster to understand its anatomy, go seining for fish on our beach, and meet mud crabs and learn about their unique adaptations.

Oysters Inside And Out

Get to know the Eastern Oyster inside and out by exploring its biology and ecology, as well as its many cultural and historical impacts. Dissect an oyster to learn how it filters, explore an oyster reef habitat and meet the animals that live there, climb aboard a historical workboat exhibit to try oyster harvesting, and play a game to see how harvesting has changed over time.

Eco-Explorers

Learn about the human impact on the world around us through interactive STEM activities. Find out what’s going on out there and learn how we can help. Explore an interactive model of pollution in our watershed, learn to use scientific equipment to test water quality, investigate plants’ role in shoreline erosion via a hands-on experiment, and use problem-solving skills to engneer a filter to clean water from the Bay.

From Bay To Table

Follow the journey of the Eastern Oyster from its home on the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay to your plate. Try out a pair of hand tongs to harvest oysters, discover the tools watermen use to access the reefs, see the equipment used to clean the oysters, and bring home your very own can of “oysters” that you design.

Middle School Programs

Choose from three different programs:

Animals In and Around the Bay focuses on the variety of critters that make their home in the Chesapeake Bay. Explore an oyster reef habitat and go seining on our beach.

Oysters 101 is an in-depth look at the Eastern Oyster – its ecology, its biology, and its historical ties to the culture of the Bay.

Back Creek Science gets students investigating the health of the Bay through hands-on-learning – see what fish live under our docks and use scientific equipment to measure water quality.

Could You Make it on the Water? tests students in the various skills needed to be a waterman. Follow the journey of an oyster from the bottom of the bay to the dinner table, and bring home your own can of “oysters.”

High School Programs

Choose from three different programs:

Chesapeake Bay Ecology allows students to learn about the many different animals that live in the Chesapeake Bay.

Oysters 102 gives students the chance to understand the Eastern Oyster inside and out. Dissect an oyster, examine the decline of the oyster fishery through interactive activities, and explore the oyster reef habitat.

Wetland Field Studies focuses on teaching scientific sampling techniques used to evaluate the health of the Chesapeake Bay. Students use scientific equipment to examine the animal communities and water quality of the Bay.

Kayaking

Climb aboard and get up close and personal with the plants and animals of the Chesapeake Bay. Our naturalists will lead your group on a guided paddle down Back Creek, highlighting its interesting history and ecology along the way. Grades 4 and up. 2-hour and 4-hour programs available.

Elementary School

For Our Youngest Learners (2-3 Year Olds):

“Fish and Friends” — From fins to legs, discover the various body parts that animals need to survive. Students will read a story, compare the body parts of crabs and fish, try out a pair of “crab claws,” and meet some fishy friends.

PreK – Kindergarten Programs

Fins, Feet, & Feelers allows students to meet critters like fish, shrimp, and crabs that make their home on an oyster reef. Students will listen to an oyster story, learn the body parts of different animals, and touch and interact with the many different animals that live on the oyster reef habitat.

What’s a Waterman? Students will learn about this important and unique Chesapeake Bay job. They will hear a story about the Chesapeake Bay, learn about the special clothing that a waterman wears and the equipment that he uses, meet a blue crab, and use tools to practice fishing and collecting oysters.

Club Chesapeake Afterschool

Bring the Chesapeake Bay to your classroom. With six 1-2 hour sessions once per week, students will explore a variety of animals, perform experiments, play games, and get a full hands-on understanding of the Chesapeake Bay.

Middle & High School

The Annapolis Maritime Museum can customize an in-school field trip for your middle or high school classroom. Please contact [email protected] for more information.