The Finger Lakes region of New York has been a boater's paradise since the Iroquois Nation were the residents..

Boats and boating have been central to life in the Finger Lakes since before white settlers arrived. One man in a fishing boat, visitors delivered to resort hotels by steamer, the fruit harvest heading to market, sailboats racing, elegant yachts…the design, construction, and use of boats is a fascinating history of the lakes, canals, communities and people in the Finger Lakes. And this heritage is fast disappearing.

Only one organization has the mission of preserving this history and its artifacts : The Finger Lakes Boating Museum:

• Has a growing collection of over 60 Finger-Lakes-built boats.
• Exhibits boats annually at the Glenn Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport and at an outdoor show in Penn Yan.
• Operates a "mini-museum" at the Arnot Mall during their annual boat show.
  
• Partners with the Morehouse Boat Registry for events at Cayuga Lake State Park, the former Morehouse factory.
  
• Offers workshops in restoration and building skills.
  
• Publishes a quarterly newsletter, sharing stories and knowledge of boating.
  
• Interviews people who created this history, and preserves their stories.
  
• Plans a permanent home with active hands-on experience of boat-building and handling, archives of history, restoration shop, classes, collections.

Under the porch of an old cottage lay a neglected wooden rowboat, distinctive with
its wineglass transom. The new owners, realizing how much work would be required
to restore and maintain it, elect to commit it to the burn pile. And so one of the last
remaining pulling boats, unique to each local builder, is lost forever.

The Museum was chartered in 1997 to collect, preserve and display examples of the many boats designed and built in the Finger Lakes region of New York. We are a nonprofit educational corporation.

The Museum's mission is to "collect, preserve and interpret objects relative to boating and boating history...within the Finger Lakes Region and to research, document and disseminate information showcasing boating in the region".

Further, the Museum aims to provide a community center where Finger Lakes boating history comes alive.

For more information, contact us:Email
 

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