Mystic Seaport Museum announces Wells Boat Hall
A 15 Million initiative to create a home for its iconic American watercraft collection
Mystic Seaport Museum (75 Greenmanville Ave, Mystic, CT 06355) is pleased to announce the establishment of the Wells Boat Hall to exhibit the American Watercraft Collection, an estimated $15 million renovation to convert a section of the historic Rossie Mill—currently used as a storage facility—into a dynamic, publicly accessible, exhibition hall highlighting the Museum’s collection of historic small boats. The exhibition, curated by longtime cultural institutional leader Pieter Nicholson Roos, will capture the progression of American nautical innovation, showcasing the unique social history of each vessel and revealing the scope of the extensive collection to the public for the first time.
“We are delighted to bring the American Watercraft Collection out of storage and into the public eye for our visitors and supporters,” says Peter Armstrong, President and CEO of Mystic Seaport Museum. “This renovation not only increases the size of our accessible campus but also allows us to unravel the stories that lie within these amazing vessels.”
The Wells Boat Hall will exhibit over 100 vessels, seldom seen by the public in the last 40 years. Estimated to be the largest and the most diverse small craft and engine collection in the world, the exhibition will feature the first vessel acquired by the Museum, Annie, a 1931 sandbagger, and will span 182 years from an indigenous dugout canoe to a modern-day Mini Transat racer. The public will be invited to engage in the stories of vessels in the collection from labor to leisure, from adventure to commerce, and beyond. Stories will include the Analuisa, a fishing boat used by Cuban refugees to escape to Florida in the summer of 1994, and Tango, the first boat pedaled across the Atlantic and holding the record as the fastest human-powered transatlantic crossing, completed in 40 days, pedaled by Connecticut resident Dwight Collins.
Located on the corner of Rossie Pentway and Greenmanville Avenue, and directly opposite the Museum’s Thompson Exhibition Building, the Wells Boat Hall will be housed in the historic Rossie Mill, built in 1898 as a velvet factory and once the largest employer in Mystic. The 35,000 square-foot warehouse will be renovated to include a new and ADA-compliant visitor entrance with a columned canopy, a new roof reflecting design typical of New England mill towers, and a fully integrated exhibition space. The renovation will allow the Museum to care for and exhibit the watercraft and related artifacts in an environment that showcases their importance and maintains their legacy while maintaining this historic building. The Wells Boat Hall will also double as a flexible community space for lectures and presentations, as well as new educational programs initiated by the American Institute of Maritime Studies at Mystic Seaport Museum.
Pieter Nicholson Roos has been appointed the Wells Boat Hall Exhibition Curator and will curate the exhibit. Roos, the former director of the Mark Twain House and Museum and a strategic advisor on climate change, will provide his decades of experience in preservation and maritime expertise.
“It’s with great excitement that I join Mystic Seaport Museum in unveiling its cherished collection to the public after years in storage,” shared Roos. “With the launch of the Wells Boat Hall, we will allow visitors to embark on a journey through time, finding their own connections to the array of stories on view and ensuring that these historic boats are preserved and remain in our contemporary consciousness.”
The American Watercraft Collection will be housed in the Wells Boat Hall, named after local residents and longtime Museum Trustee Stan Wells and his wife Nancy Wells. It is scheduled to open to the public in the fall of 2025.
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