Algonac-Clay Historical Society Maritime Museum
On display in the museum is also a 1949 Chris-Craft 16 ft. Sportsman mahogany boat that was raffled at the annual Algonac Lions Pickerel Tournament in 1949. The Maritime Museum has many photos of World War II landing crafts that were built at Chris-Craft between 1942 and 1945. One of Gar Wood’s last mahogany boats from the Marysville, MI plant when it closed in 1947 was named the Last Gar. Also on display is a Chris-Craft kit boat, built every year by students in a boat building class at the Algonac High School until 1960.
Among other displays, there is a replica of a boathouse with a small racing boat hanging an Algonac Boat Hoist inside the museum. There are many artifacts on display from other boat building companies from the area including a boat manufactured by Allen Boats. Outboard motors including an Elto, Elgin, Johnson, Evinrude, Chris-Craft, Mercury, Hiawatha and many more are on display.
The museum has a number of model ships such as the Edmond Fitzgerald on display. There is a room dedicated to tall ships since Algonac, MI is known as The Hospitality Port for many tall ships, when they are in the Great Lakes for the Tall Ships Challenge, held every three years.
The Maritime Museum also has artifacts of boating history on display, Chris Craft boat drawings, paintings and prints depicting the area and sailing ships, historical boating videos, the Algonac ship cam view of the river, and also the Ship to Shore Gift Shop. The Algonac-Clay Township Historical Society also supports research requests that are solicited by individuals or other museums interested in boat building, boating legends, and Algonac community history.
