New Hampshire Boat Museum
399 Center Street
Wolfeboro Falls, NH
Gleaming mahogany runabouts and vintage outboards tell the story of a century of boating on New Hampshire's lakes, in the town that calls itself the oldest summer resort in America.
The New Hampshire Boat Museum celebrates a love affair that shaped the state's Lakes Region: the love of getting out on the water. Its collection of antique and classic boats, from sleek mahogany runabouts to early outboard motors and racing craft, traces more than a century of boating on Lake Winnipesaukee and New Hampshire's other lakes, and the summer culture that grew up around them.
The museum sits in Wolfeboro, a town that bills itself as the oldest summer resort in America, a claim rooted in an eighteenth-century royal governor who built a country estate on its lake. That long resort history makes it a fitting home for a museum devoted to the wooden boats, boathouses, and lake life that have defined New Hampshire summers for generations.
What Guests Love
- Beautifully restored antique wooden runabouts with gleaming mahogany hulls
- The story of a century of boating and summer life on New Hampshire's lakes
- Rides offered on a vintage-style boat in season for a taste of the real thing
- A friendly, volunteer-driven museum in a classic lakeside resort town
Worth Knowing
- The museum is seasonal, generally open summer into fall
- Vintage boat rides and special events run on a schedule, so check ahead if that is the draw
- It pairs naturally with a stroll around Wolfeboro's lakeside downtown
- Exhibits rotate, so repeat visits turn up different boats and stories
Details
Wolfeboro Falls, NH
Learn about New Hampshire Boat Museum
The boats
The heart of the museum is its fleet of vintage watercraft, with an emphasis on the classic wooden runabouts that once cut across the lakes, their varnished mahogany hulls polished to a mirror shine. Alongside them are historic outboard motors, canoes, sailboats, racing boats, and the tools and ephemera of the boatbuilder's trade.
Exhibits rotate from season to season, so the boats on display change, and the collection is enriched by loans from local families and collectors who have kept these craft running on the lakes for decades. Together they tell the story of how boat design and lake recreation evolved through the twentieth century.
Lake life and boating heritage
Beyond the boats themselves, the museum preserves the wider culture of the Lakes Region: the boathouses, the marinas, the summer camps, the racing traditions, and the family memories tied to time on the water. It is as much about a way of life as it is about the machinery.
In season the museum offers rides aboard a vintage-style boat, letting visitors feel the experience the exhibits describe, the sound of the engine and the wind off the lake, rather than just look at it behind ropes. Educational programs, including boatbuilding and restoration, keep the craft skills alive.
Wolfeboro and the lake
Wolfeboro sits on the eastern shore of Lake Winnipesaukee and traces its resort reputation to the 1760s, when the last royal governor of the province built a summer estate on a nearby lake, an early example of the summering tradition that would define the region. Today it is a picturesque town of lakeside shops, restaurants, and a busy town dock.
The town is one of the ports of call for the M/S Mount Washington excursion ship, and its walkable, water-facing downtown makes an easy and pretty companion to a museum visit, rounding out a full day in the Lakes Region.
Season by season
Summer is the museum's main season, when the exhibits, boat rides, and events run and Wolfeboro is at its liveliest.
Early fall keeps the museum open while the lake quiets and the surrounding hills begin to turn, a pleasant, less crowded time to visit.
Late fall and winter close the seasonal museum, though Wolfeboro remains a charming lakeside town year round.
Spring is the run-up to the season, when boats are readied and the town shakes off winter ahead of summer.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
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Honorable Mention391 Styles Bridges Highway, Lincoln, NH
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Things to Do Near Wolfeboro
Wolfeboro town dock
About 1 mile, a few minutes away
The lakeside heart of Wolfeboro on Lake Winnipesaukee, with shops, restaurants, and a stop for the M/S Mount Washington cruise ship.
Castle in the Clouds
About 15 miles, a 25 minute drive
A mountaintop Arts and Crafts estate in Moultonborough with waterfalls, trails, and sweeping views over Lake Winnipesaukee.
Mount Washington Lake Cruise
A cruise stop at the town dock, or about 30 miles by road to Weirs Beach
The flagship excursion ship of Lake Winnipesaukee, cruising past islands and lakeside towns from its home port at Weirs Beach.