Ashtabula Maritime & Surface Transportation Museum

1071 Walnut Blvd., Ashtabula. From either east or west on Route 20 or I-90, take Route 45 north and turn east on Route 531, or take Route 11 north and turn west on Route 531. Follow arrows on the blue signs to the museum.

History:
Lighthouse keepers, and later United States Coast Guard Chiefs, took turns living in this 1871 home. In 1898, an addition was built for an assistant keeper. Keepers alternated shifts of sleeping at the lighthouse and keeping warm and dry with family members on shore. Dedicated to maritime heritage, the museum includes the world’s only scale model of a Hulett ore unloader. View freighters loading and unloading at Ashtabula Harbor, the Ashtabula Lighthouse, a unique arched conveyor belt that transports coal to fields behind the museum, and one of only two lit Bascule lift bridges in the United States. The museum also features an original 4th order Fresnel lens from the Ashtabula Lighthouse, lighthouse models and Coast Guard artifacts.

Contact:
Great Lakes Marine and Coast Guard Memorial Museum, (440) 964-6847 or http://ashtabulamaritimemuseum.org/

Vistor Info:
Open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from Memorial Day through August. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. The museum is also open Saturday and Sunday in September, noon to 5 p.m. Closed on holidays, and there is a small charge for admission.