|
The Lower Lakes Marine Historical Society has a large collection of marine and maritime related artifacts and materials from the lower Great Lakes and the Buffalo Harbor area. The museum's holdings are varied and constantly growing with new accessions and new research work. Listed below is a brief outline of some of our major items:
- Photography and Iconographic Collections
- The museum houses over 300,000 photos and negatives of various maritime and domestic subjects. We now hold collections of photos from the former Buffalo Dry Dock and local professional photographers including:
- Hare Photography Collection
- Ernst Winter Collection
- The Barret Collection
- Roland "Whitey" Betteken Collection
- Artifacts
- LLMHS houses an extensive collection of historical artifacts from various ships that once plied the Great Lakes. Included in our collection are many items uniquely associated with Buffalo and Western New York such as artifacts recovered from the wreck of the steamer BRUNSWICK in Lake Erie.
We have an extensive collection of underwater artifacts including "Buffalo bottles" and numerous coins from the mysterious "Buffalo coin pile"
- Models Collection
- The museum is fortunate to have an large number of highly detailed ship models. Both steamers and sailing ships are well represented. Some of the more notable models include:
- CITY OF CLEVELAND III
- W.S. GRATTON
- WALK-IN-THE-WATER
- FRANK H. GOODYEAR
- MILWAUKEE
- INTERNATIONAL
- J.T. WING
- Research Library
- There is a on site library for scholarly research and reference with both a card catalog and a computer index of the printed materials available. LLMHS has a collection of books and other printed materials specifically related to the local history of Buffalo. We have developed an extensive library on local marine and domestic history as well as standard works on the oceans and the Great Lakes.
- Newspaper Collections
- The entire library of a former Buffalo newspaper is housed in LLMHS. We are the current repository of over 250 volumes of original historic newspapers some dating as far back as 1842. Included in our collection are the following:
- The Buffalo Daily Republic (about 1850 to 1860)
- The Buffalo Evening News
- The Buffalo Daily Courier (about 1850 to 1860)
- Business Records
- We have acquired some or all of the business records from the following businesses and organizations:
- Buffalo Corn Exchange, one of the City's few commodity brokerages
- Conley Brothers, marine supplies
- Oldman Boiler Works, ship repairs
- American Steamship, a major lakes shipper
- Howard H. Baker, Inc., marine supplies store and ship chandler, which was the successor to the Hiram Water Ship Chandlers, founded in 1832
- Genealogical Research
- LLMHS members, active in genealogical research, have used our collection to document the activities of ancestors and others who were active in Great Lakes related professions. This growing body of information is being accumulated in a computerized database.
- Private Papers and Collections
- Principal among our private collections is the "Parsons and Weaver" collection of correspondence, logs, memorabilia, and other artifacts from a Buffalo "lakes sailors" family. Also the "David A. Gerber" collection of materials related to maritime subjects and ethnic immigrations.
The museum's catalogs are constantly being updated and expanded as time and money permit. It is intended to eventually put most major items "on-line" should sufficient funding become available for a project of that magnitude.
The above is not a complete listing of the museum's entire holdings and collections. Researchers interested in a specific item or area of study should contact the museum directly for more information and/or availability.
For the museum's current daily schedule, hours of operation, and contact information, please click here.
|
