Do you want to see two landmark sites in one trip: an old school from the late 19th century and a historical treasure trove of the region’s maritime past? Then plan a visit to the City Island Nautical Museum. In this article on i-bronx, we’ll tell you why you should go and what you’ll find inside.
A Museum in an Old School
The Nautical Museum is located in one of the island’s most beautiful and historic buildings—the former Public School 17. It was built in 1897 on a high hill after City Island residents decided to separate from the Town of Pelham and join New York City in 1895. The school was built with municipal funds, and its layout and interior were quite classic and restrained. Although it was initially planned as a temporary educational facility, it ended up operating for over 75 years. After closing, the school remained empty for nine years. To save it from complete decay, the building was sold in 1986, but the city retained a portion of the space for the City Island Historical Society and Community Center, and several old classrooms were converted into museum galleries.
The goal of creating the museum was to preserve the maritime heritage of City Island and revive the nautical traditions that have shaped the island’s identity for years. The main mission of the project is to promote historical research, spread knowledge about the history of City Island and its surroundings, and collect and preserve artifacts and documents related to its maritime history.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission recognized the former public school, which now houses the museum, as a landmark due to its historical and architectural value to New York City.
Main Hall and Gallery
The Main Hall houses the most important and valuable exhibits: old maps, the America’s Cup, and models of notable boats and minesweepers. Here you can see unusual rum runners built during Prohibition and an elegant wooden kayak made in the 1930s. The museum’s gift shop is located in the foyer, where you can buy books, T-shirts, photographs, postcards, and nautical souvenirs.
The Gallery features showcases with vintage shipbuilding and sailing tools. The walls are adorned with photos of yachts and boats that were built or serviced on the island, as well as portraits of prominent locals who made significant contributions to the development of City Island.
The Walsh Library
This room was recently renovated and updated to meet the necessary temperature and humidity standards. This is crucial because the vast majority of the exhibits are made of paper, which requires special care.
The library houses a large collection of books on maritime history, as well as countless archives and albums with newspaper clippings, postcards, and articles about City Island, Pelham Bay Park, and Hart Island. It features a wide assortment of nautical magazines, such as Yachting, Rudder, Wooden Boat, and Classic Yacht, and a database of all boats built on City Island since 1848.
A separate highlight of the library is an impressive exhibition of ship models. This room also has a special space for hosting various exhibitions of works by local artists and photographers that reflect different aspects of City Island’s history. The library is the primary research hub for the island, its residents, and the businesses that operated here, although most materials are related to maritime history.
The library’s interior is very much like a cozy home office—tall bookshelves, a soft, comfortable sofa, a large table, a rug on the floor, and soft lighting… It’s the perfect atmosphere to immerse yourself in a fascinating literary world.
The Nautical Room
While the Main Hall and Gallery have a strictly museum format, this room looks more like an old sailor’s attic or garage. It’s filled with shelves and countless interesting trinkets. Historical photographs, memorabilia, and artifacts fill the space, revealing the rich maritime legacy of City Island. The exhibit also features tools used by sailors and shipbuilders, several ship models, and vintage boat motors. The room’s highlights are several skiffs built on the island, an unfinished boat, and a Buchman sailing canoe made in the early 1930s.
Community Room
This spacious, high-windowed room is dedicated to the island’s community life. It contains a variety of materials that reflect City Island’s history from ancient times: photographs, maps, and memorabilia, such as Native American arrowheads. The walls are decorated with images of streets, shops, markets, farms, restaurants, and private homes, as well as the waterfront in the past and present. There are many interesting exhibits that show what the island was like years ago. For example, a large relief map of City Island from around 1867, a diorama of the Battle of Pell’s Point, which took place in October 1776, and a special corner dedicated to City Island’s religious institutions. Additionally, you can see many antique furniture pieces and vintage appliances, such as sewing machines, an ice box, and a 100-year-old typewriter. In the center of the room stands a large counter from Gilbert’s Pharmacy, which now serves as a display for historical artifacts.
The School Room
A section is dedicated to the historical legacy of the school itself, which operated in this building for 78 years. It preserves student registration documents, graduation photos, autograph books, report cards, pens, pencils, briefcases, the old school bell, and other items. A unique map of the naval training station that operated in Pelham Bay Park from 1917 to 1918 hangs on the wall.
There are also many exhibits from other schools that existed on the island at various times—from the first school built in 1838 to modern institutions like St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic School.
One part of the room is decorated in the style of a traditional school classroom: desks, a blackboard, and a teacher’s table. This small museum hall is especially popular with students who are curious about how children used to learn.
Seasonal Exhibitions
All temporary major exhibitions are usually held in the museum’s Gallery. For example, in 2024, three large exhibitions were held:
- “The Sailmakers of City Island”
This exhibition, curated by sailmakers Greg Jimmy Italiano and Tom Nye, showcases not only their traditional skills and techniques but also their creativity in crafting sails adorned with cartoon characters and original designs.
- “The History of Hart Island”
Barbara Dolensek is the author of this exhibition, which highlights the history of Hart Island, from its use as a training ground for U.S. Colored Troops in 1864 to its transformation into a site for individual and mass burials. In general, this island has a very rich history. For some reason, it has been home to institutions with a difficult social focus at various times: a psychiatric hospital, a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients, a homeless shelter, a boys’ colony, a prison, and a rehabilitation center for drug addicts.
- “The Navigation and Pilots of Hell Gate”
This exhibition by Dick Sadler and Mike Clancy tells the story of the vital role of navigation. Dick Sadler is an experienced navigator whose father worked as a pilot in the area, and Mike Clancy recently retired from the Army Corps of Engineers.
The City Island Nautical Museum is open from April 28 to October 27 on weekends only, from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Group visits are by appointment (all contacts are on the museum’s official website). Please keep this in mind when planning your visit.
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