Permanent Exhibits

What Floats Your Boat?

Funded by the National Science Foundation

Explore the science, history and art of boats and
boat building in our new interactive exhibit! Step
inside a fantasy backyard garage and experiment
with water, wind and boat shapes. Remember all
that talk about displacement, gravity, buoyancy
and that guy, Bernoulli, and his principles?
Rediscover it here as this family-friendly exhibit
encourages visitors to not only consider the
scientific aspect of boats, but to also appreciate
their historic and artistic facets, from design to
construction to actual sailing.

Climb into a boat that sits on a waterbed, put weights in different places on a model boat to study its center of gravity, or pull different shapes through a ten-foot tank of water to examine how drag affects speed. Take on the role of boat builder in our wodden boat workshop and assemble a four-foot wooden boat puzzle. And further on, the curious can walk or crawl through a full size replica of a 22-foot 19th century Delaware River Shad Skiff. What Floats Your Boat? is a must-do experience for all!

Click to launch What Floats Your Boat site!

Olympia: Launching
The American Century

Don't miss this one! This permanent exhibit,
Olympia: Launching the American Century,
delves into the complex commentary on social
and political matters of the Spanish American
War era and presents a reflection of naval life
at the turn of the century. Also, discover the
many technological advancements that make
Olympia an important piece of naval history
beyond the well-deserved glory she earned
through the victory at Manila Bay. Examine
Olympia's history through newspaper
headlines of the times, telegrams, period
photographs, letters and journals written by
crew members and artifacts that were
discovered aboard Olympia, as well as objects
on loan!

Home Port Philadelphia

Travel through time and history with Independence
Seaport Museum's exhibit Home Port Philadelphia,
funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment
for the Humanities along with audiovisual funding by the
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Focused
solely on Delaware Valley maritime history of the late
19th-century and early 20th century, the museum allows visitors to journey through immigration, commerce, defense, industry and recreation led by the oral histories of the men and women who have lived, worked and played along the regions waterways. Exciting and challenging hands-on activities have been incorporated into the Museum's premier historical artifacts offering education and fun. Visitors can climb aboard the cold, hard bunks of an immigrant's journey in a ship's steerage compartment, unload cargo from a container ship using a miniature Kocks crane, weld and rivet a ship's hull or just relax and take an imaginary trip down the Delaware River.

Bound For Philadelphia

Signaled by audiotape boat horns and whistles, visitors chart a
course for Penn's Landing. Learn the hazards of navigation as
you travel beneath a three-story replica of the Ben Franklin
Bridge and make your way along a carpeted Delaware River.
View the charts and navigational instruments that helped guide
early Delaware River travelers.

Coming To America

Experience traveling in a steerage compartment first-hand as you climb into the gray bunks that many immigrants called home while they made their way to Philadelphia's Washington Avenue -- the fourth largest immigration port of its time. View photos of first class dining accommodations and try out model steerage dining compartments. Hear the oral histories of actual travelers.

Philadelphia and the China Trade

Celebrate Philadelphia's historical maritime
connection with China as Independence
Seaport Museum examines Philadelphia's
role in the China Trade that began in
Philadelphia in the late 1700s. Discover the
remarkable similarities between our own
Delaware River and China's Pearl River
and their respective ports, learn what items
were traded between the first colonies
and China, see the men, both from
Philadelphia and China, who ventured into
this new territory of trade opportunities,
and more!

Ship Via Philadelphia

Use a miniature crane to unload cargo from
a container ship and explore commerce and
trade from the early 19th-century through
the present. A touch-screen computer brings
information on trade and waterfront
development to your fingertips. Hear
merchants? and longshoremen's stories of
how developments in ship technology and
cargo handling have changed the nature of
dock work and view a high-speed video
that tracks shipyard activities from sunrise
to sunset in just 3 minutes.

Divers of the Deep

Experience the wonders of the ocean's depths in Divers
of the Deep! Take an up-close look at undersea
technology through the ages, including the pioneering
minisubs STAR 1 and GUPPY 1. See the NEWTSUIT,a
submarine you can wear! Audiovisual presentations
narrate the history of undersea exploration, while a
430-gallon saltwater aquarium highlights the immense
variety of undersea life.

On the Rivers, On the Shores:
Small Craft of the Delaware River Valley

Further explore the region's marine history
and culture through Independence
Seaport Museum's newest permanent
exhibition, On the Rivers, On the Shores:
SmallCraft of the Delaware River Valley
featuring small craft indigenous to the
area. The exhibit which opened on July 6,
1998, includes an 1885 Merryman Lifeboat
used by the U.S. Life Saving Service, a
single racing shell used for rowing on the
chuylkill River and a rare 1910 Atlantic City
Catboat -- one of only 40 manufactured
in the world.

Events & Exhibits