Antique Boat Museum Museum

The Antique Boat Museum is a maritime museum in Clayton, New York, on the St. Lawrence River in the Thousand Islands region. It preserves and displays a large collection of historic and classic boats and marine artifacts.

Founded by boat enthusiasts to preserve regional boatbuilding traditions and historic watercraft, the museum’s collection has grown through donations, acquisitions and active restoration programs. It functions as both a display museum and a working conservation facility.

Situated in the village of Clayton in Jefferson County, the museum fronts the St. Lawrence River and is part of the Thousand Islands tourism area in upstate New York.

• Collection size: Holds a collection of more than 300 historic and classic watercraft covering runabouts, launches and raceboats from the 19th century to the modern era.
• Best time to visit: Located on the St. Lawrence River in Clayton, New York, making it accessible during summer months when boat demonstrations and river activity are most frequent.

What to See#

• Boat collection: A waterfront collection of restored and original wooden and early powerboats spanning multiple decades, available for close viewing along the museum campus.
• Restoration shop: A restoration workshop where conservators and volunteers repair and preserve hulls, engines and fittings; tours sometimes show active boat restoration work.

The museum sits on the St. Lawrence River in Clayton, New York. From northern I-81, follow US-11/NY-12 toward Clayton and look for signs to the riverfront museum; parking is typically available on site. For those coming by boat, slips are available during the summer season.

• Visit during the Antique Boat Museum's summer season (June-September) when the docks are full of running boats and the smell of varnish hangs in the air.
• Stand on the outer-most docks at low sun-photographers get the best reflections then; the interior exhibits are brighter mid-morning.
• Ask a docent about the wear pattern on the helm of the oldest launch; small human details like that tell the real stories.