Mercantile

Mercantile is a wooden sailing schooner preserved as a museum ship in Camden. The two-masted vessel features traditional rigging and hull construction typical of commercial sailing ships built for coastal freight operations.

Built in 1916, the vessel carried cargo along the New England coast for 25 years before being retired. It was later restored and designated a National Historic Landmark, recognizing its importance to American maritime heritage.

The vessel shows how maritime communities once depended on sailing ships for survival and trade. Walking its deck gives a sense of the skills and daily routines that defined coastal life generations ago.

Visitors can walk through the vessel and explore its interior spaces, with interpretation available to understand how it operated. The ship is located in Camden harbor and easily accessible from downtown, with good views of the waterfront area.

The wooden hull still shows details of how sails were rigged and how crew members navigated without modern instruments. These practical features reveal the ingenuity required to operate coastal trading vessels in rough Atlantic conditions.