Herreshoff Marine Museum/America's Cup Hall of Fame

06/15/2026

June 16, 1883: The Bristol Phoenix notes that "The steam yacht Permelia [HMCo. #100] was on the Providence Marine Railway on Friday of last week, having a larger wheel [read: propeller] attached. She returned here the same evening." PERMELIA (HMCo. #100) was the second of that name to be built by HMCo. within two years, and was nicknamed ONE HUNDRED. N.G.H. recorded her best mean speed at 19.3 mph on her trial run with the new screw. It is interesting to note that the Phoenix reported her having been hauled at the Providence Marine Railway rather than at HMCo. More digging in the archive will have to be done to ascertain whether this was because the ways in Bristol were not up to the task for some reason or otherwise occupied, and/or how normal it might have been to have an HMCo. vessel hauled in Providence (we suspect not terribly). Irrespective, the Providence Dry Dock and Marine Railway Company has its own fascinating history and deserves mention here. It was located on Bold Point, along the waterfront in East Providence. Today you can see the location today from the East Bay Bike Path just after crossing the river from Providence, and at low tide in Green Jacket Shoals just off the point you can see remains of vessels and pilings now abandoned.

06/13/2026

Free & fun TODAY at the Herreshoff! Come cool down on our waterfront 🌞

06/09/2026

Wanna spend your summer museum hopping?

This Saturday only at our Waterfront Welcome event, we're offering a special $100 membership level - that will also get you into hundreds of museums across the country. Not only will you enjoy all the benefits of being a Herreshoff member, but you'll unlock a world of adventure.

06/02/2026

In June of 1909, an article by Lawrence Perry was originally published in the then-fledgling Yachting Magazine, fourteen years after HMCo. #452 DEFENDER's successful 1895 defense of the America's Cup.

Perry (1875 - 1945) was the founding editor of Yachting, which had been established in 1907 by New York Evening Post owner Oswald Garrison Villard. Perry's work ranged widely over his career, from historical nonfiction to novels to sports columns.

This particular article also seems to reflect his penchant for the theatrical - but perhaps this should come as no surprise, as he also wrote plays and reported on the doings of Broadway later in his career. His flair for drama is evident, for example, in setting the scene of fourteen years prior:

"The star of Herreshoff was in the ascendant, and, while it still glows serene and alone, it is no more luminous to-day than in the early summer of 1895, when a beautiful sloop slid down into the waters of Narragansett Bay and made her maiden bow to an applauding nation. Defender! Unluckiest of sloops, launched under an evil star and rigged with curses dark; yet out of the alembic years she arises glorious, more sinned against than sinning, a boat to carry fondly in memory while stouter spars and stauncher hulls slip gradually into the limbo of dim things that were..."

05/30/2026

This week!

Next Thursday night! Come learn about some America's Cup musical history.

https://herreshoff.org/event_calendar/the-musical-history-of-the-americas-cup/

05/27/2026

Our first ever Waterfront Welcome event is coming up in a few short weeks! Explore the museum and HMM programs, stop by the waterfront market, enjoy kids and family friendly activities, and so much more. We can't wait to see you there!