Essex Historical Society and Shipbuilding Museum

Essex produced more wooden fishing schooners between 1668 and the 20th century than anywhere else in America.

That is an extraordinary claim, and the Essex Historical Society and Shipbuilding Museum makes it vivid. Spread across two sites on Main Street, the museum traces the full arc of the town’s shipbuilding history through artifacts, photographs, antique tools, ship models, and the Evelina M. Goulart, a 1927 Essex-built schooner that sits in the shipyard near the spot where she was launched.

The 1835 Central Schoolhouse at 28 Main Street houses exhibits, archives, and Smithsonian-loaned ship models; the shipyard at 66 Main Street is a working site where wooden boat building and restoration continue.

Guided tours run from May through the fall season and typically last between one and two hours. Year-round programming includes workshops, speaker events, education sessions, and archival research by appointment.

Note: Exhibit tours are seasonal, resuming May each year. The museum runs year-round events and programming outside of open season, check essexshipbuilding.org for the current calendar.