Hall of Boats
The Herreshoff Marine Museum yacht collection features
more than 60 classic Herreshoff yachts. They range in
style and age from the 20-foot catboat SPRITE, Nat Herreshoff's
first experience in naval architecture at the age of
11 1/2 years to the 56-foot yawl BELISARIUS built in
1935, his last design. As you explore the changing our
great Hall of Boats you will see, first hand, the scale
and scope of the work done here at the Herreshoff Manufacturing
Company.
The museum's collection of Herreshoff
boats >
Model Room
These areas replicate Captain Nat Herreshoff's model
room and workshop from his nearby home, Love Rocks.
In these rooms Nat created over 500 half models from
which all of his yachts were built. Here you will learn
the process by which he created the models, and the
way in which Captain Nat transformed those models into
the yachts that dominated the "Golden Age of Yachting,"
including those you see in the Hall of Boats. The Workshop
features all of the equipment and tools that aided him
in his work and houses his library and personal papers.
Because of the fragility of the papers and models, access
to the N.G. Herreshoff Model Room is possible only by
appointment.
A. Sidney DeWolf Herreshoff Room
Named for Museum Founder, Sid Herreshoff, eldest son
and successor of Captain Nat, this room features the
Herreshoff family photos, a photographic timeline tracing
the development of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company,
a diorama of the Company, a steam engine exhibit, fittings
exhibit, and several small boats.
The oil portraits exhibited portray the
family of Charles and Julia Herreshoff. For many years,
these portraits adorned the walls of the music room
at Herreshoff House at 142 Hope Street in Bristol.