Maine's First Ship

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Maine's First Ship Maine’s First Ship uses our reconstruction of the 1607 pinnace Virginia for education and community

Maine’s First Ship strives to use our reconstruction of the 1607 pinnace Virginia to immerse the public in an exploration of the region’s early history, craftsmanship, and relationships, and their impact on our community and environment today. The original Virginia was built at the Popham Colony, near the mouth of the Kennebec River, that was founded in 1607 and abandoned in 1608. The colony of about 100 men and boys was founded to exploit the wood, animal, and mineral wealth of the area and to find the northwest passage. Virginia was built to use in this exploration but was then used to return some of the colonists to England. She later returned to America to resupply Jamestown, The Popham Colony’s southern sister colony. The reconstruction is being built in and around the Bath Freight Shed in Bath Maine. The Bath area, twelve miles upriver of the Popham Colony became a major shipbuilding site and this reconstruction honors the 400 years of quality shipbuilding in the area. The Bath Freight Shed is that last warehouse in the area which in the 1850s was the fifth largest port in the United States. MFS is dedicated to maintaining this building and making it available as a community center.

Reg is sanding the railing on the Freight Shed deck and, true to his word, Fred is back to work on the topmast today. ...
10/14/2026

Reg is sanding the railing on the Freight Shed deck and, true to his word, Fred is back to work on the topmast today.

Chilly, wet, and quiet here this morning. Second photo shows the other end of the mast log Fred is working on behind the...
10/13/2026

Chilly, wet, and quiet here this morning. Second photo shows the other end of the mast log Fred is working on behind the shallop Jane Stevens.

On this Indigenous Peoples' Day we thank the Seth Sprague Education Foundation and Maine Humanities for funding to work ...
10/12/2026

On this Indigenous Peoples' Day we thank the Seth Sprague Education Foundation and Maine Humanities for funding to work with consultant James Francis to expand our exhibit on the Wabanaki. Put some history in your holiday with a visit to our Jane Stevens Sagadahoc Heritage Center at 27 Commercial Street in Bath, Maine.
Maine Humanities Council

Thanks to a Maine Humanities Capacity Building Grant and funding from the Seth Sprague Education Foundation, Matt has be...
10/11/2026

Thanks to a Maine Humanities Capacity Building Grant and funding from the Seth Sprague Education Foundation, Matt has been able to work with consultant James Francis to expand our exhibit on the Wabanaki. We invite you to put some history in your holiday weekend with a visit to 27 Commercial Street in Bath, Maine.
Maine Humanities Council

Today was Community Service Day for the Morse High School freshman class and MFS was pleased to welcome Ben, Eden, Konno...
10/08/2026

Today was Community Service Day for the Morse High School freshman class and MFS was pleased to welcome Ben, Eden, Konnor, and Stellan who got started on our seasonal cleaning & tidying of the Bath Freight Shed, and also worked alongside several regular volunteers as part of a planned work day on the . MHS history teacher Mr. Dever brought us a great group of kids who represented the Class of 2030 well. Thank you to MHS for organizing this day and sharing the energy & enthusiasm of their students with the broader community and for these four in particular for putting in the time & effort here with us. Morse High School

We started the day with the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences and then welcomed St. John's School about mid-day, the fir...
10/07/2026

We started the day with the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences and then welcomed St. John's School about mid-day, the first of several days this month devoted to visiting school groups.
Maine Academy of Natural Sciences

Fred was onsite yesterday; said he was working on getting his form back as he starts transforming this cedar log into a ...
10/06/2026

Fred was onsite yesterday; said he was working on getting his form back as he starts transforming this cedar log into a new topmast. Chips were flying faster than this photographer could catch on film, so we're thinking he'll be good. 😉

This is an official request for more Monday rainbows (we needed this!).
10/05/2026

This is an official request for more Monday rainbows (we needed this!).

Address

Maine's First Ship, 27 Commercial Street
Bath, ME
04530

Opening Hours

Wednesday 10am - 3pm
Saturday 10am - 3pm

Telephone

+12074434242

Website

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