Panama Canal Museum, Maritime history museum in San Felipe, Panama.

The Panama Canal Museum occupies the former Grand Hotel, a building from 1874–1875 on Plaza de la Independencia in Casco Viejo, at the corners of 5th and 6th streets. Its ten permanent exhibition rooms trace the interoceanic route chronologically, from the French attempt to the 1999 transfer to Panamanian hands under the Torrijos-Carter Treaties.

George Loew, an Alsatian businessman, built the building in 1874 as the Grand Hotel, the most luxurious in Panama City. In 1881 it was sold to Count Ferdinand de Lesseps and became the headquarters of the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interocéanique, with offices and a floor for senior staff. After the French canal failed, the United States Canal Commission used it for four years until moving to Balboa in 1910; Panama bought it in 1915 for public offices.

The museum shows how the canal connected Panama with the world and what role it played in global trade. Visitors see old photographs and objects that bring this history to life.

The museum is located at Plaza de la Independencia in central San Felipe and is easily accessible on foot. Plan to spend several hours exploring the different exhibition levels.

The building began as the Grand Hotel, opened by Alsatian businessman George Loew and called the most luxurious hotel in Panama City; it had a mansard roof, gas lighting and a fire-prevention system. It was sold to Count Ferdinand de Lesseps in 1881, and most floors then served as offices of the Universal Company of the French Interoceanic Canal, with one floor housing senior employees.