The Skipjack Virginia, designed by Joe Gregory and built by Carl Pedersen in 1973 in Deltaville, graces our main hall.  It is an example of one of the main types of Chesapeake Bay workboats.  This one is fully rigged and ready to sail.

In 1608, Captain John Smith and 14 men set out in a shallop on an epic voyage to explore and map the Chesapeake Bay. In 2007, as a part of the 400th anniversary celebration of the founding of the Jamestown Settlement, the Deltaville Maritime Museum built the Explorer as a replica of the Smith shallop. This exhibits relates the history of the shallop and details the construction of our replica. (Also see Outside Exhibits:Explorer)

Built in 1924, the 62.8-foot F.D. Crockett is one of only two log-bottom buyboats built exclusively for power and represents the apex of log boat building on the Chesapeake.  Alex Gaines of Dare, Virginia, used the same techniques that were used to build the early sailing "canoes", when he designed and built her 9-log hull to accept a gasoline engine. After Gaines completed the hull, she was taken across the creek to Smith Marine Railway, where John Franklin finished the boat.

For 70 years, the F. D. Crockett was used as a working vessel.  In 1994, she was converted to a pleasure craft.  In 2005 Ron Turner, a descendant of the Smiths, donated the boat and she was towed up the bay from Poquoson arriving in Deltaville on September 5th. 

This exhibit relates the history and details the restoration of the F.D. Crockett.  (Also see Outside Exhibits:F.D. Crockett)

See the astonishing story of the meteorite that smashed into what is now the Chesapeake Bay over 35 million years ago. Instructive illustrations show and explain the impact and aftermath of the strike, as well as the effects that are felt to this day by residents of the crater zone.

Native Americans built boats, predominantly log canoes, for travel on the Chesapeake Bay and it's tributaries.  This somewhat notional exhibit shows how they did it.

This growing collection of beautifully crafted models captures the utility and grace of the Chesapeake Bay workboats they represent.  Among the modelers represented are Roland Griffin and John Earl, both long-time supporters of the museum.

Ray Rodgers wanted to build buyboat models, but soon realized most of these boats were built by “rack of eye” and had no plans as such.  Ray began measuring the boats he wished to model and committed his very precise measurements and observations to these drawings.  Over time, in addition to being the only vestige of some of the subject boats, the drawings became an art form in their own right.

Pound-net fishing was introduced into the Chesapeake bay in 1858 as a more efficient way to catch finfish such as shad and herring. While it met with some initial resistance, by the early part of the 20th century, pound nets were in widespread, commercial use throughout the Bay. This display features models that highlight two of the boat types once used in the fishery – the tow bat and the trap boat. 

The history of navigation is the story of charts, latitude, longitude, time keeping, and ingenious techniques used to find one's way.  This informative exhibit shows development of these aspects of navigation from the crude instruments of the middle ages to the sophisticated devices of the space age.

Do you have a favorite Chesapeake Bay lighthouse you would like to know more about?  Use our touchscreen panel to “explore" any of the 88 lighthouses built on the Chesapeake and see a picture (when available) and a brief history of the selected lighthouse.   

The museum has many, wonderful ship models on display. Few visitors are aware of the methods used to make these models and the many hundreds of hours required.  This display, created by members of the Deltaville Ship Modelers’ Guild, shows the steps used in building a simple skiff model from scratch as well as the contents of a popular skipjack kit. Also shown is a partially finished model of the buyboat Muriel Eileen along with the Ray Rodgers’ plans for that boat.

Looking for a great family experience?  The Deltaville Maritime Museum boat building program uses traditional building practices to assemble skiffs of solid cypress and fir.  You will experience the challenge of building a boat as it was done in the past.  

The Stingray Point Hotel, also know as The Old Red Barn, opened for business in 1942.  It became a popular summertime vacation and weekend retreat for Richmonders, and during its early year's, was a very lively place.

This exhibit is a collection of antique outboard motors, mostly on loan from Carl Hawkins.  Some of the outboards were built as early as 1923. One outboard is the first Johnson model, and another is very model instrumental in the founding of the Mercury brand of outboards.