Independence Seaport Museum

Why go

Independence Seaport Museum earns time because it offers a waterfront museum where ship interiors add physical scale to Philadelphia's maritime story. Its central thread is Delaware River history, working boats and two nationally significant museum vessels. Cruiser Olympia preserves spaces from a steel warship launched in the 1890s. Submarine Becuna compresses machinery, bunks and passageways into a narrow visitor route.

What to look for

• Cruiser Olympia preserves spaces from a steel warship launched in the 1890s.
• Submarine Becuna compresses machinery, bunks and passageways into a narrow visitor route.

The full story

Independence Seaport Museum is best understood through Delaware River history, working boats and two nationally significant museum vessels. The Independence Seaport Museum is a museum dedicated to the maritime history of the Philadelphia region and other major urban ports along the Delaware River. It sits in the Penn's Landing complex along the Delaware River in Philadelphia. Founded in 1961, it offers dozens of exhibits, include the warship USS Olympia and the submarine USS Becuna. In 1961, maritime collector J. Welles Henderson felt that Philadelphia's maritime history had been forgotten, and was frustrated that his city lacked a maritime museum like those in New England. So he rented a room in the Athenaeum on Washington Square, set out his personal collection of maritime items, and opened the Philadelphia Maritime Museum. In 1974, the museum moved to 321 Chestnut Street, into a building built in 1898 for the First National Bank. In 1995, the museum moved to Penn's Landing along the Delaware River, after spending $15 million to renovate a building used by the Port of History Museum, which had closed two years earlier. It was renamed the Independence Seaport Museum. In June 2007, former Independence Seaport Museum president John S. Carter pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and tax evasion from misappropriating about US$2.5 million in funds from the museum. He received a 15-year sentence in federal prison.

Useful to know

• Check which vessels and decks are open; ship access can differ from general museum admission.
• Wear shoes suited to metal stairs and tight passageways if boarding the vessels.

Your next visit

Estimated · Declared scenario and planning estimates; no live opening, weather, queue or booking service.