The story
The museum was founded in 1971 by members of the Herreshoff family to preserve the accomplishments of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company and its founders, John Brown Herreshoff (1841–1915) and Nathanael Greene Herreshoff (1848–1938).
Beginnings
In 1970 Halsey Chase Herreshoff, grandson of yacht designer Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, was informed that the yacht THANIA had been bequeathed to a "Herreshoff Marine Museum," which didn't exist at the time. The gift, along with the acquisition of two other boats, inspired the creation of a floating exhibit with that name in 1971. The Herreshoff Marine Museum had no physical space on land until August 1978, when Halsey acquired a storehouse on Burnside Street.
Expansion
Multiple acquisitions expanded the museum campus along Burnside Street in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1985, the museum acquired most of the former Herreshoff Manufacturing Company waterfront and original manufacturing building. In 1990, Norman Herreshoff bequeathed the adjacent Richmond/Herreshoff House. 1996 saw the creation of the Nathanael Greene Herreshoff Model Room and Workshop.
Hall of Fame
In 1992, Halsey Herreshoff and the museum board launched the America's Cup Hall of Fame to honor outstanding individuals of the America's Cup yacht race, going back to 1851. The hall has grown to over 100 inductees as of 2025.
From Wikipedia’s article on Herreshoff Marine Museum, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4