Collection Overview 

The Museum’s collection attests to Long Island’s maritime heritage based in the whaling industry. The majority of the Museum’s collections were donated over time, starting as a community repository from the Museum’s founding in 1936.

A portion of the collection, particularly the archives, are digitized with free public access. 

Digital Collection

Totaling 6,000 pieces, most items speak to the 19th century whaling industry, specifically Long Island whaling, as well as the local history of Cold Spring Harbor and its growth as a maritime port.  When possible, artifacts are integrated into educational programming.

The collection includes:

• Scrimshaw: 500 scrimshaw items crafted by whalers at sea, one of the true American folk arts, including decorative pieces on teeth and tusks. The collection excels in its variety of hundreds of utilitarian pieces such as sewing boxes, swifts, busks, fids, and jagging wheels – a collection considered one of the finest in the northeast.
• Whalecraft, Ship Gear, and Navigational Aids: 275 Tools, including a 19th century whaleboat from the Long Island whaleship the Daisy (and the only fully-equipped whaleboat with its original gear on display in New York State), with a collection of tools, trypot, figureheads, and navigational tools.
• Archives: Containing 95% of the existing manuscript material from the Cold Spring Harbor whaling fleet (documenting 44 voyages of 9 ships from 1836-1862), including 15 ships logs, 12 journals, and business correspondence; 90% of the records from the local Customs House (1798-1908); records of the Long Island coastwise trade under sail; photos of crewmembers, vessels, and ports; family scrapbooks. 
• Richmond Collection: The Museum acquired a major addition in 2012 of documents, letters, receipts, shipping lists, and manuscripts preserved from the Cold Spring Harbor ship the Richmond, wrecked on the Bering Straits in 1849. The archive reveals the Richmond’s significant history as the focus of a legal judgment in maritime salvage law that holds effect to this day.  
• Models: 12 detailed models of whaling ships, including one by the master ship model maker Henry Culver; a large diorama of Cold Spring Harbor in 1850 (48”x72”), painstakingly completed in 1970.  
• Marine Art: 150 paintings, lithographs, and daguerreotypes depicting whaling scenes; works by Currier & Ives, S.A. Mount, C. Ashley, W. Brandford, and watercolors of local ships by E.F. Tufnell.
• Daily Life: 6 costumes, 50 whale oil lamps and candleholders, accessories, and objects of daily living in the 1850s donated by local whaling families; ship in a bottle, early 19th century glass flasks, kitchen tools, and prescription bottles. 
• Natural History: 25 skeletal whale bones; 2 narwhal tusks; sperm whale jaw; orca skull; ear bones; blubber sample; other biological specimens from ocean life, including coral.  
• Hewlett Collection: Acquired in 1989 from the state of John D. Hewlett including over 200 photographs, 300 pieces of correspondence pertaining to the growth of Cold Spring Harbor as a maritime community, Edward Lange landscapes, portraits by S. A. Mount of local citizens, ledgers from local industries including grist mills, saw mills, and shipyards, providing a wealth of research opportunities. 
• Hoie Collection: 24 whaling-themed watercolor paintings by the locally celebrated Long Island watercolorist Claus Hoie (1911-2007), gifted in 2012 to the Museum through the Hoie Foundation.

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Recent Acquisition 

​The Whaling Museum received 19 ships in a bottle donated by the Kappel family in honor of collector Lester Kappel. 

Over the past 83 years, the Museum acquired an extensive and varied collection of 6,000 artifacts. 

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Research

We welcome research requests.

• Museum is progressing through a current digitization project with NY Heritage, with support from the National Maritime Heritage Foundation.
• Scholarly research is by appointment only - contact us at a minimum of two weeks ahead of time.
• Digitization requests are accepted; note usage and/or publication fees apply.
• Basic genealogical research may be conducted through the work of the German Genealogy Group.
• For general American Whaling research, the database at whalinghistory.org is a strong resource.

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Loans

The museum loans objects and photos to appropriate institutions (not individuals). Please email our Collections & Exhibits Coordinator with a formal request, including a description of the project, timeline, and facilities report. At least 6 months lead time is suggested.   

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Donations

The vast majority of the museum's collections are made up of generous and thoughtful donations by the local community. The museum primarily accepts donations which document the general maritime history both of Cold Spring Harbor and Long Island, as well as pieces which are part of the general American whaling story. We also accept donations which help our educators teach programs about science, art, culture, and history. 

If you are interested in donating a piece to the collection, first please check out our guidelines. An appointment is required to bring your item to the museum; donations cannot be accepted without one. 

Please note we do not appraise any items, as museums are legally prohibited from doing so. We do not authenticate pieces or place value on items. Those seeking this information should contact an appraiser or auction house. ​

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