Humboldt Bay Maritime Museum

The Humboldt Bay Maritime Museum is a museum in Samoa dedicated to the maritime heritage of California's North Coast. It houses vessels, photographs, tools, and documents from different periods that document the seafaring life in the region.

The museum was founded in 1977 and occupies a historic house that once belonged to the head cook of the nearby Samoa Cookhouse. This location links maritime history with the everyday lives of people who worked and lived on the coast.

The museum reveals how local communities depended on maritime activities for their livelihood and identity across generations. The collections show the deep connection between the people and the bay that shaped their way of life.

The museum is easy to reach and displays its collections in compact spaces that you can explore comfortably at your own pace. Weekday visits tend to be quieter, giving you time to look at the details without crowds.

The museum operates the MV Madaket, a vessel built in 1910 that remains the oldest passenger ship still in active service in the United States. You can visit this ship and experience firsthand what passenger travel was like in that era.