The North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort traces its beginnings to the early 1900s, when it was little more than a collection made up of a few fish mounts, jars of preserved crustaceans, fishing tackle, and bird skins which had been put together to represent North Carolina at the 1898 International Fisheries Exposition in Norway. Around 1904, these items were put on display for the public at what was then the U.S. Fisheries laboratory on Piver's Island in Beaufort, N.C.

In the years that followed, additions were made to the coastal natural history collection; the museum was overseen by a series of agencies and individuals and shifted between Beaufort and Morehead City.

In 1959, the funding and organization of the museum was brought under the N.C. Department of Agriculture, in what was at the time the N.C. Museum of Natural History.

The defining period for the museum was 1975 when its first full-time curator, Charles R. McNeill, former operations manager of the N.C. State Port, expanded its mission to encompass maritime history. In the ten years that followed, and while located in rented storefronts on Turner Street in Beaufort, the museum experienced phenomenal growth, recognition, and public support.

Over the decades the list of individuals who have given their time, talent, and interest to this collection continues to grow. It is because of their "care giving" that this museum exists as it does today.

In 1985, the N.C. Maritime Museum moved into its first permanent location, a newly constructed building on Front Street property donated by Mrs. Evelyn Chadwick Smith of Beaufort.

Charles McNeill retired in 1988, and Rodney Barfield, former director of the Museum of the Cape Fear in Fayetteville, was appointed museum director. The Watercraft Center, across the street, was completed in 1992, and the purchase of the adjacent Harborside property soon followed.

In 1997 the Beaufort museum became an agency of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources. Then-Agriculture Commissioner James A. Graham commented on the transfer, saying, "With the discovery of what is believed to be Blackbeard's flagship, the demand for large amounts of resources for the Maritime Museum will be greater than ever." That same year, the Friends of the Maritime Museum acquired a 36-acre tract of land on the waterfront on Gallants Channel in Beaufort.

In late summer and early fall of 1999, the N.C. Maritime Museum expanded operations to include branch museums on Roanoke Island (transferred to the State Historic Sites Division in 2008) and at Southport.

In 2001, the museum was reaccredited by the American Association of Museums.

In 2006, the State of North Carolina accepted a gift of the land at Gallants Channel to expand facilities for educational and cultural programs. Existing docks and facilities at the site are currently used for the museum's Junior Sailing program, rowing programs and Cape Lookout Studies program. The location is also primary home for artifacts from the shipwreck presumed to be the Queen Anne's Revenge (QAR), flagship of the pirate Blackbeard.

The museum conducts more than 300 public programs each year, including field trips to coastal habitats, lectures, and workshops. Over 100 people are active volunteers with the museum, helping with a wide variety of activities. In the Watercraft Center visitors can watch volunteers construct and restore wooden boats. Students participate there in classes in boat building skills. The museum's small craft research program preserves the history of boats and boat building in North Carolina.

Annual programs and events include: the Summer Science School for Children, Junior Sailing program, Wooden Boat Show, and Family Day. Organizations include: the Friends of the N.C. Maritime Museum, N.C. Maritime History Council, Carolina Maritime Model Society, and Traditional Small Craft Association.

Educational services are provided for school, civic, and special needs groups. The Cape Lookout Studies Program (suspended as of 2008) holds workshops at the museum's field station on Core Banks, a unique barrier island within Cape Lookout National Seashore.

The museum's exhibit gallery features the history of the U.S. Lifesaving Service and North Carolina's working watercraft, coastal marine life, and the heritage of coastal watermen and how they made their living. Full-sized watercraft and models from sailing skiffs to commercial fishing boats are displayed along with decoys, hand tools, fossil and shell collections, salt water aquaria, and life-like dioramas that reflect the richness of the coast's resources and history.

The museum's greatest resource has been, and continues to be, its people --- those who originally foresaw the importance of a museum to house and protect the maritime history and the coastal natural history of the state; those who gave financial support; those who gave their time as volunteers; those elected officials who fought for financial and legislative support; staff who have worked to provide visitors with the best museum education possible; and finally, those people who patronize the museum, our visitors.

It is because of the unwavering support of devoted individuals and groups since 1904 that the museum is recognized today as one of the finest maritime museums in the country.

The North Carolina Maritime Museum is an entity of North Carolina state government, under the Division of State History Museums, directed by Ken Howard. The museum system is a component of the Office of Archives and History, Dr. Jeff Crow, Director. That office is under the direction of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, Lisbeth C. Evans, Secretary.