Mare Island Museum

J Hill

They have done so much with this museum. There are so many artifacts, pictures, etc that it is very moving to the soul. I miss no longer working at the best Naval Shipyard on the west coast! It was a great place to learn while supporting your country. Thank you Mare Island.....

David Zink-Brody

Beautiful, interesting, and informative island rich with Bay Area history of working shipyards and Navy stewardship. I would like to know more about the indigenous roots, did not specifically look for those exhibits.

dana graves

There is A LOT of info here. It's a self guided museum so you can spend as little or as much time as you desire but be sure to check their hours of operation. The staff are all volunteers and have stories to tell from their day on the …

Tom Heaney

Although navigating the maze of Mare Island and finding parking for the museum isn't particularly easy, the museum is worth it for anyone with an interesting in local or naval history. The museum is extensive and covers the history from the Gold Rush to the present. The displays tend to be collections of "old stuff" without as much interpretation as one might expect from museums these days. Nevertheless, from shipbuilding to the technical aspects of naval machinery to modern naval weapons the museum offers a tremendous array of artifacts and learning opportunities. There's a special emphasis on submarines from the 1930s to the 1990s that I found particularly fascinating. (At the time of my visit in 2016, the museum was building a replica of a ballistic missile submarine control room out of actual submarine parts complete with operating periscope. So, I need to revisit the museum and see how that final product turned out.) You can also walk around the area and visit a number of historical buildings using a map available from the museum. There are officer's quarters, sure, but the shipbuilding facilities were much more interesting to me. Make sure to save time to check out at least one of the dry docks where ships of all sorts were build over the past century (also the site of several episodes of Discovery Channel's "Mythbusters" TV show).