Tuckerton, New Jersey
Street Address
120 Main Street
Tuckerton, NJ 08087
Mailing Address
PO Box 52
Tuckerton, NJ 08087

Hours

Open 7 days a week from 10am - 4pm
Closed December 19th - march 31st

Admissions

$8 for adults
$6 for seniors
$3 for children 6 to 12
Children 5 and under are free

Staff

Michele Pierdinock
phone:
Jennifer Rouse
phone: 609-296-8868
Shelly Drummond
phone:
Beth Huch
phone:
Nancee Jo Luciani
phone:
Barbara Warren
phone:
Regina Pistilli
phone:
Jim Leek
phone:
Description

Catch the Spirit of the Bay at Tuckerton Seaport, a recreated maritime village nestled along the Tuckerton Creek in historic Tuckerton, New Jersey. This one-of-a-kind attraction located on forty acres of pristine beauty in Ocean County, New Jersey, is dedicated to preserving, presenting, and interpreting the rich maritime history, artistry, heritage, and environment of the Jersey Shore and the unique contributions of its baymen and women.

Discover the region's rich maritime heritage and the dramatic interaction between culture and anture on Barnegat Bay. Time-honored traditions and the legacy of the Jersey Shore are recognized with recreated and histroic buildings, demonstrations, interpretive exhibits, tours, special events and more.

Experience the sights and sounds of maritime life along the ocean, bays and creeks of coastal New Jersey. meet decoy carvers, boat builders, clammers and other baymen and women. Regional maritime trades of the past are interwoven with traditions of today to entertain, educate and delight visitors of all ages.

History

The Tuckerton Seaport is a project of the Barnegat Bay Decoy and Bayman's Museum whose mission is to preserve, present, and interpret the rich maritime history, artistry, heritage and environment of the New Jersey shore, particularly the contributions of its baymen. Established in the late 1980s the museum has grown from a one-building enterprise dedicated to preserving and interpreting a culture and way of life that was rapidly disappearing along New Jersey's coast, to encompass the Tuckerton Seaport, a 16-building maritime village which opened in 2000, and the Jersey Shore Folklife Center.

The Tuckerton Seaport offers a diverse array of programs and exhibitions to preserve and interpret the maritime history of the New Jersey shore. Reconstructed buildings help present, through permanent and changing exhibitions, information about the history, culture, industry, artistry and environment associated with the New Jersey shore. Rotating temporary exhibits of loaned objects and those from the museum's permanent collection explore related topics on the history of New Jersey, its maritime traditions, and the inland and coastal waterways that have defined New Jersey's Bayman communities. Workshops, daily demonstrations, lectures, programs, tours, classes and other presentations complement exhibits. Educational programs specifically aimed at K-12 school students support state curriculum standards.

Tuckerton Seaport's Jersey Shore Folklife Center is one of seven statewide centers established by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts to strengthen the rich diversity of cultural expressions in the state and to encourage cross cultural understanding. The JSFC is responsible for the Tuckerton Seaport's traditional folklife demonstrations and programs, conducting folklife fieldwork and documentation, and incorporating this research into the Seaport's exhibits and programs.

Artifact Collections

Decoy and Shorebirds
The Decoy and Shorebird collectionis made up of over 300 decoys and shorebirds in a variety of styles from different regions along the Eastern Seaboard.
Decoys are the main focus and make up the largest portion of the collection. Some of the most prolific and notable carvers of all time are represented, for instance Harry V. Shourds, Nathan Rowley Horner, John Blair, Ira Hudson, the Ward Brothers, and Hurley Conklin just to name a few.

Boats
Over the last 10 years we have accumulated over 45 boats of various types and sizes. This collection includes at least 30 Sneakboxes ranging in size from 10 to 15 feet.
Some are your typical duck hunting boat and others fit in a class as a recreationla sailing boat. Other boats include garvies, moth boats, two large charter fishing boats, a Hankins Skiff, Delaware duckers, scull boats, classic wood baots, a number of duck hunting boats, and one dug out canoe.
The boats also vay in condition; some are in great condition while others need to be restored.
These boats were made by a number of different boat builders ranging from very large-scale operations to people building them in houses and backyards. Many well-known and not so well-known builders are represented in the collection --names such as Perrine, Van Sant, Beaten, Hankins, Cramer, Heinrichs, Price, Hunt, Conklin and Ridgeway.

Baymen's Tools
Baymen's tolls make up a large portion of our collection. These are tools associated with workign the bay from season to season, for example clam and oyster rakes, clam and oyster tongs, shinnycocks, oyster drags, eel rakes, eel spears, crab traps, minnow traps, eel pots, shrimp net, seine net, hay sickles, hay forks, and many other similar arifacts.

Cultural Artifacts associate with the life in Southern New Jersey
Cutural artifacts represent possessions, gear, goods, hardware, and equipment. Artifacts like hand tools, household items and

Research Collections

The Jersey Shore Folklife Center and the Tuckerton Seaport is currently conducting research on New Jersey's Pound Fishing industry, both the Ocean Pounds and the Bay Pounds. Key to the project is documenting the diverse experiences of commercial fishermen in New Jersey from Scandinavian immigrants to African American menhaden fishermen from Virginia. One exciting component of the project was six interviews with African American Menhaden Fishermen who worked in New Jersey. The project was made possible by a grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission-Department of State.

Educational Programs

The Tuckerton Seaport provides a variety of public and private, on and off-sirte tours and programs throughout the year. All programs are designed to provide unique, hands-on opportunities to experience and explore the culture of the Baymen and women as well as our natural resources.
Tours can be customized to meet your specific group's needs. We also offer outreach programs where our staff will bring the Tuckerton Seaport to you. You can learn about the horseshoe crab or how to weave your own basket.

Publications

The Tuckerton Seaport publishes the Seaport Senitnel. This publciation is a quarterly newsletter is sent to our membership.

Seaport Sentinel
ADA
Wheelchair Accessible
Exhibitions
Museum Events
DISCLAIMER
This information, including business hours, addresses and contact information is provided for general reference purposes only. No representation is made or warranty is given as to its content or the reliability thereof. User assumes all risk of use. Stories USA, Inc. and its content suppliers assume no responsibility for any loss or delay resulting from such use. Please call ahead to verify the dates, the location and directions.

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Georgia Association of Museums 2025 Conference

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Virginia Association of Museum's 2025 Annual Conference!

March 15 - 18, 2025

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2025 Am Assoc for State and Local History Annual Conference

September 10 - 13, 2025

Cincinnati, Ohio

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