NOTHING OLD ABOUT THIS MUSEUM By Jerome A. Koncel
I
f your vision of an antique boat museum conjures up
it houses 270 boats, 30 runabouts, 87 inboard engines, 145
images of musty smelling storage sheds housing old and
outboard engines, 18 Chris-Craft, 6 Gar Wood, 4 Lyman, and
rotting boats gathering dust and spider webs, then you’re
9 H.H. Rushton boats. It has a modern campus that consists
in for a real treat when you visit the Antique Boating Museum
of 10 modern buildings (91,774 sq. ft.), including 30,074 sq.
(ABM) in Clayton, N.Y. There’s nothing old about this museum
ft. of exhibit space and more than 60,000 sq. ft. devoted to
except its unique and beautifully preserved collection of
programming and administrative space. It holds an antique
recreational boats, engines, and artifacts from the old days of
boat show every year bringing together enthusiasts from all
the 20th century.
over the country, and this year’s show (Aug. 2 to 4) marks the
No matter if you’re an admirer of antique boats, a boater who’s
49th consecutive one.
passionate about all things boating, or simply an individual
ABM is spread out over 4.5 acres and includes exhibit
who has an inquisitive nature and a deep appreciation of
buildings, boatbuilding areas, docks, a library, and a gift shop.
history, ABM is for you. It’s dedicated to the preservation,
It has an outlying storage building where it houses more than
collection, and celebration of boats and related artifacts,
200 boats, engines, trailers, and even a training simulator that
while also working to advance the public’s understanding
was used to train seaplane pilots during WWII. But ABM is so
of boating’s role in the cultural history of North America in
much more...
general and the St. Lawrence River in particular.
A tour of ABM’s exhibit halls reveals a blend of old, antique,
The definitive history of boating in the United States is still
classic and miscellaneous boats, and maybe even a few
to be written, but a visit to ABM recalls all that is, was, and
wooden boats that are unique. The exhibits tell stories of long
will be good and worthwhile about boating in the early and
journeys in small boats, of St. Lawrence skiffs that anyone
middle decades of the 20th century. One of the main reasons
from the 1000 Islands region treasure and even revere, and
this museum exists is so that boaters will never forget the
of canoes and paddles whose design and craftsmanship
artisanship and craftsmanship that went into designing and
remind anyone of times long ago when cars and interstates
building a boat during these times.
didn’t exist.
THE OVERVIEW
The quantity and quality of the boats displayed in the museum are significant, although boaters have been prone to argue
ABM houses the premier collection of recreational boats,
about what constitutes a run-about or a utility or the different
engines, and artifacts in the United States, if not the world.
models of “skiffs.” For its purposes, ABM uses the common
From a statistical viewpoint, ABM’s collection is impressive:
terminology used to describe a boat built by the Chris-Craft
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