Cole Land Transportation Museum

08/24/2026

Another sneak-peak of our Heroes & Heritage Raffle Week items! Make sure to visit the museum between Sept. 13-19th and enter to win these special packages!

Thanks to our generous sponsors: Challenger Learning Center of Maine, Evergreen Home & Hearth, Maine Trailer, Inc., Brewer Car Wash, Governor's Restaurant's, Black Bear Cinemas, Maine Maritime Museum, Wight's Sporting Goods, Poirier's Garage Inc., Traditions Golf Club, Moe's Original BBQ-Bangor, ME, and Hannaford Supermarkets.

08/20/2026

We are deeply honored to share that the Galen Cole Family Foundation has received the Distinguished Service to Education in Maine Award from the Maine School Superintendents Association.

Galen and Suzanne Cole established the Foundation more than 50 years ago with a simple belief: Maine becomes a better place for all of us when we invest in its people, especially its children.

For more than 35 years, the Foundation has invested over $2 million in early childhood literacy programs. These investments have helped thousands of students become stronger readers and more confident learners while helping hundreds of teachers strengthen their classroom instruction.

Each year, the Cole Land Transportation Museum also welcomes students from approximately 70 schools. Through our educational programs, students learn the meaning of “freedom isn’t free” directly from military veterans, spark their creativity through the Junior Curator Program, and explore science and engineering through hands on STEM activities. To date, more than 200,000 children have participated in these programs.

We sincerely thank the Maine School Superintendents Association for this tremendous honor. We are grateful for this recognition, proud of the partnerships that make this work possible, and excited about all that still lies ahead.

08/20/2026

🎟️ BIG PRIZES. BIG MISSION. HEROES & HERITAGE RAFFLE WEEK IS BACK!

The Heroes & Heritage Raffle returns to the Cole Land Transportation Museum September 13th through 19th!

Throughout the week, visitors will have the opportunity to purchase raffle tickets for dozens of prizes generously donated by local businesses and community members. Every ticket purchased helps support the Galen Cole Family Foundation’s programs serving Maine veterans.

Interested in donating a raffle item? We are still accepting contributions and would be grateful to include your business in this special community event. We thank our generous sponsors and partners for making this an exciting lineup of prizes!

Here is a sneak peak of some raffle items ready for the event!

08/20/2026

Families in the Bangor area are taking to the skies! The Challenger Learning Center of Maine is hosting its "Blast Off Bash," giving kids and parents the chance to build and launch their own model rockets. Story link: https://tinyurl.com/3bx2zfhw

08/19/2026

We’re excited to welcome Challenger Learning Center of Maine to the Museum today for an afternoon of family fun, hands on learning, and rockets! Walk ups are welcome, so come join the Blast Off Bash! 🚀

08/13/2026

The summer season rolls on, and our volunteers are hard at work keeping the museum ready for visitors every day!

From guiding visitors through the exhibits to working the register and keeping the Gift Shop stocked (like Penny here), our volunteers help make everything we do possible.

We’re grateful for the time, care, and energy they bring to the museum all season long. Thank you to all of our volunteers for helping us keep generations connected!

08/06/2026

Join us on September 13th from 11-3 for an unforgettable Transportation Festival! Thank you to our sponsors for making this public event possible, and we look forward to a family-friendly day of exploring unique trucks.

08/04/2026

We were delighted to take museum volunteers on a special trip to Owls Head Transportation Museum for their Wings and Wheels event this past weekend! This visit offered a chance to connect as a team, learn more about transportation history, and enjoy a wonderful airshow experience. We are so grateful to our incredible volunteers for sharing their time, energy, and dedication with visitors and students here at the Cole Land Transportation Museum.

08/04/2026

The Motion Makers Summer Camp with the Challenger Learning Center of Maine is in full swing! On day one, students are enjoying remote control car building and connections with local organizations.

A big THANK YOU to Quirk Auto for stopping by our Motion Makers Summer Camp at the Cole Land Transportation Museum today!

The Quirk team brought a fantastic hands on project for our campers, giving them a fun opportunity to build, create, and put their skills to work. It was a great way to connect STEM learning with real world experiences.