OPEN The Custom House is now open year-round!
HOURS: April through December, we're open Tuesday through Sunday (closed Monday), from 1—5 PM, & by appointment call: 860-447-2501,fax: 860-447-8086.
January through March, we're open Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday, from 1—5 PM, or by appointment. call: 860-447-2501.
ADDRESS 150 Bank Street, New London, Connecticut 06320.
PHONE: 860-447-2501, FAX: 860-447-8086
ADMISSION: The Custom House Maritime Museum is always FREE for current members, individuals with current military or USCG cadet ID and children under age 14 (with adult), admission is a $5 suggested donation for all others. Admission is by donation on Sunday.
TOURS: Groups may schedule tours by calling 860-447-2501.
Group tour admission is $5 per visitor.
Tour the Robert Mills US Custom House from attic to sub-basement! Architectural tours of the Custom House can be arranged by appointment at $8 per visitor.
SHOP: Our Museum Shop has books & gifts with New London maritime themes.
The Custom House Maritime Museum/New London Maritime Society (NLMS) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization and receives no regular funding from any other organization. We rely entirely on donations and the money raised from visitors to the Museum.
The Society's mission is to preserve New London's U.S. Custom House and New London Harbor Light, and to promote and interpret the maritime history of the port of New London and the surrounding region through museum exhibitions and educational programs. The Society is managed by independent Trustees supported by a museum director and a growing number of volunteers who give generously of their time.
Housed in the Mills custom house, the Custom House Maritime Museum has developed into a community museum, which is a very special kind of place. New London’s spirit has been damaged by several unfortunate occurrences: the Fort Trumbull eminent domain case, the decimation of downtown businesses, the flight of wealthier families from in-town neighborhoods and the public schools. At the museum, we work to rebuild social capital in the community by respecting and presenting the stories of our neighbors from across the region. We do this in several ways: the museum has become something of a social center, where people of all walks of life meet to talk, tell stories, hold meetings, and play cribbage; we present “Jibboom Roundtables” –panel discussions featuring individuals who share a common maritime interest or experience (recent roundtable topics have included tugboat workers, design of New London’s Parade, oyster farming in Long Island Sound). We develop 'cabinet 'exhibitions drawn from our members’ experiences: the ‘Two Lives of the Grandma Sue’—the story of one of our member’s 80-year-old grandfather, who fulfilled a lifelong dream to build & sail a boat to Florida, and ‘C. Alton Beaudoin: Master of Knots’ are examples of two such exhibits.
The museum’s new, more-welcoming environment brought us volunteers of every age: high school and college students, working adults, seniors.
We have soldiered on in the face of tough economic times the past 2 years while expanding both our programs and our revenue stream, with the result that in 2009 & 2010 we have kept to our budget goals and even ended 2009 in the black! We have increased exhibition space and added a kitchen; we’ve begun renting the museum for private events; and we’ve added new educational programs for both youth and adults.
This year, reinvigorated by a new board president and several new trustees, the Society has taken the bull by the horns and addressed serious issues of maintenance and fundraising.
And this past fall, the Society assumed stewardship of New London Harbor Light, the 4th oldest lighthouse in the country and the oldest lighthouse on Long Island Sound. We can report with confidence: the Society is equal to the challenge!
Thank you notes for our summer Amistad education program
from Jose, & Jorge from Nathan Hale Summer School.
This fall, the American Baptist Churches of CT visited the Custom House.
Here is what they wrote:
Working together as a community really does work as people see all New London has to offer...Keep up the good work. I am local and plan to talk up your wonderful and informative history program.
We are fortunate to have the Custom House...
--Mary F. Brodhead, Chair, Education Ministries, American Baptist Churches of CT
