Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Museum

This little museum got really overhauled in the past couple years. While the museum is on the small side, they have great events that make visiting worth it. With crafts and activities, kids love it! I’ve even been to a few birthday parties there, and I’m always impressed.

How fortunate the community is to have a museum dedicated to this significant and undervalued or unknown part of American history! This is not a mammoth museum like you might expect, but artifacts of all shapes & sizes, rare & common alike, are displayed throughout the two main rooms.
Whether you are a seasoned historian or looking for a great introduction to the whaling industry of the 1800s, you will discover something new here.
This museum is also great for the community in that it caters to school children (as evidenced by the lively group of youngsters that I saw working at stations, creating their own scrimshaw or imagining the life of a harpooner!).
You can’t beat the price of admission: $ 6. There’s even a small «gift shop» with books, posters, & other knick-​knacks relevant to whaling.
Go visit!

I don’t know about everyone else but growing up on Long Island, the history of the island was drilled into me and my peers at a young age. Particularly 4^th grade. Our whole history lesson for the year was on Long Island. I remember having 2 textbooks and going on several field trips. One of those trips was to the CSH Whaling Museum. I remember scrimshaw, the uses of blubber and all about harpooning all because of this tiny museum.
My husband and I recently bought a home on Long Island and this museum is literally a 5 minute drive from our house. Although he also grew up on LI, he did not have the same 4^th grade experience I did since he went to catholic school. The dude totally missed out. He recently read Moby Dick and is obnoxiously proud of this fact so to both shut him up and also make him extremely thrilled I took him on a little day-​date to the museum. He freakin loved it. Thought it was super informative and loved me for taking him there. I’m just good like that. It hasnt changed much since 18 years or so since i’ve been there. I really enjoyed all of the drawings on the walls that all of the school kids sent in after their recent trip. Brought me back.
I’m thinking this place needs some money… like most area museums. Its time for some updating.
If you’ve never been and you’re from Long Island you should make an effort to go. Its a really important piece of LI history and it would be a shame if it were to close.
It’s only like $ 5 admission. I even had a coupon from the entertainment book that was bogo free.

We came here with my older son, and it was memorable, so we revisited it with my younger son. And I said to him as we were leaving, «when you give me grandkids we’ll come here again.» You learn a lot about the lifestyle of whaling, the dangers, the kinds of whales hunted and what products were made from them. You get the bigger picture of how, when technology changes, demand for resources changes accordingly. We particularly liked the film and the interactive computer video. You can walk through this museum quickly and get a light overview, or stand at each display case and immerse yourself, it’s up to you and your kid. There’s a piece about the industry in New Bedford, MA, that includes a black businessman, and my son made the connection that Frederick Douglass had worked in shipbuilding there after escaping slavery.

Ok, so what could be so compelling about a whaling museum? I asked myself just that as I have gone past this place a zillion times before ever setting foot inside.
Surprisingly I learned a lot there.
The museum is extremely well thought out and it gives you an excellent idea of how that whole whaling industry worked and why it was so effective at almost wiping those guys off the face of the earth.
Great way to kill a few hours with the little ones.

They had an exhibit of what Long Island would have been like. if different plans had taken shape. etc. For instance. the bridge to Connecticut. etc. I still like that idea. continuing on with the Rt. 135. but there are too many houses there now… unless you take if from bayville over!