Senator Collins visited and toured the Penobscot Marine Museum on Monday, October 23rd. The museum campus is a series of buildings spread throughout the coastal town of Searsport. The principal exhibits at the museum focus on the industry of Penobscot Bay in the 19th century and illustrate what it was like to live and work on one of the great square-rigged ships in the last quarter of the 19th century, and to visit China when it truly was exotic.
The Museum is also known for its collection of fine 19th-century marine art, featuring one of the largest collections of Thomas and James Buttersworth paintings and several by Robert Salmon. Scrimshaw, figureheads, and art and artifacts date from the "Great Age of Sail," when Searsport's sea captains visited ports the world over. Senator Collins is shown here with Ben Fuller, Wayne Hamilton, Niles Parker, and Polly Saltonstall.