Door County Maritime Museum

What Door County Maritime Museum does

The Door County Maritime Museum & Lighthouse Preservation Society, Inc. is a Wisconsin-incorporated non-profit founded in 1969 and headquartered in Sturgeon Bay. It preserves and interprets the maritime heritage of Door County and the broader Great Lakes through three operating sites: the main Sturgeon Bay museum, the Cana Island Lighthouse in Baileys Harbor, and the Death's Door Maritime Museum in Gills Rock. The organization serves approximately 95,000 visitors annually with an 11-person core staff supplemented by seasonal workers, and holds a curated collection of roughly 2,500 artifacts and 25,000 photographs.

The museum's product surface spans admission-based exhibit visitation, vessel experiences (dockside and cruise tours aboard the Tug John Purves, three-hour sails on the Schooner Utopia, and Working Waterfront Cruises), lighthouse tourism at Cana Island, and a layered educational portfolio including K-12 programming, the SeaPerch underwater robotics curriculum, SeaScouts, tiered summer camps, a Wooden Boatbuilding Class, and a recurring Maritime Speaker Series. Auxiliary revenue lines include museum-store retail (including the Death's Door Mariner's Store), event rentals for weddings and corporate clients, memberships, and recurring festivals such as the Classic & Wooden Boat Show, Merry-Time Festival of Trees, and Sturgeon Bay Maritime Week. Digital infrastructure is limited to the Catalogit collection management system and the Bloomberg Connects digital guide adopted in 2024; no proprietary technology platform is operated.

The revenue model is a non-profit mix of admissions and tour fees, retail and membership dues, individual donations and corporate sponsorships (notably Marine Travelift, Roen Salvage, and Fincantieri), federal and local grants (including a $182,520 Save America's Treasures award in 2025), event-rental fees, and summer-camp tuition. Anchor fundraising is anchored by the fifth consecutive Chris & Lori Harder $20,000 matching-gift challenge. Capital expansion is currently in progress with the June 2025 purchase of a 26,000 sq ft off-site collections storage facility, the 2025 closure and 2026 reopening of the renovated Peterson Gallery, and new exhibit launches including "Sentinels of The Door" and the Miller Exhibit. The museum completed AAM Core Documents Verification in 2024, signaling an active accreditation trajectory.

Name

Door County Maritime Museum

Legal name

Door County Maritime Museum & Lighthouse Preservation Society, Inc.

Website

https://dcmm.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1969

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Door County Maritime Museum & Lighthouse Preservation Society is a Wisconsin non-profit operating three sites (Sturgeon Bay, Cana Island Lighthouse, Death's Door) that preserves Great Lakes maritime heritage through exhibits, vessel tours, lighthouse tourism, and educational programming serving approximately 95,000 visitors annually.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Maritime Heritage Museum Services

NAICS

Museums (712110), Historical Sites (71212), Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Water (487210)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990), Water Transportation (4400), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Sightseeing & Scenic Boat Tours (Harbor, Sunset, Dolphin/Whale Watching) (THAJAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Marine Wildlife & Coastal Nature Tours (Whale/Dolphin Watching, Sea Kayaking) (THAAAEAD)

Keywords

• Maritime museum services
• Lighthouse preservation tours
• Heritage education programs
• Tugboat tour experiences
• Waterfront event venues

Headquarters

HQ city

Sturgeon Bay

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Museum Admission Fees: Admission fees charged at all three DCMM locations: Sturgeon Bay ($17 adults, $8 youth, $14 seniors/veterans), Cana Island Lighthouse ($12 adults, $10 youth/seniors/veterans), and Death's Door Maritime Museum ($7 suggested). Active military and families receive free admission year-round. Museum members receive free admission to all locations.
2. Tug John Purves Guided Tours: All-access 40-minute guided tours of the restored 1919 John Purves tugboat at $10 per person (ages 4+), offered May–October at 10:30am, 11:45am, 1:15pm, and 2:30pm. Combined museum and tug tour packages available at $20 adults, $10 youth.
3. Museum Store Retail Sales: Death's Door Mariner's Store at all three DCMM locations sells books, gifts, clothing, and accessories reflecting the museum's collections and exhibitions. Museum members receive a 10% discount.
4. Museum Memberships: Annual membership program offering free admission to all three locations, 10% museum store discount, exclusive pre-sale ticket access to annual Lighthouse Festivals, and other member benefits.
5. Donations & Annual Fund (Anchor Appeal): Annual Anchor Appeal fundraising campaign for general operations to support all three museum locations and the historic 1919 tug John Purves. Also includes endowment fund contributions, estate gifts, stock gifts, planned giving, and Qualified Charitable Distributions from IRAs.
6. Lighthouse Passport Days & Tours: Ticketed tour experiences for Lighthouse Passport Days fundraising weekends, offering access to 11 historic lighthouses of Door County and surrounding areas. Includes boat tours, trolley tours, hiking tours, and exclusive experiences like Whispering Lanterns at Cana Island and bonfire events at Sherwood Point.
7. Venue Rental: Event and wedding venue rentals at the museum in Sturgeon Bay (Captain's Quarters capacity 60+, Reddin Bridge Room capacity 55+, Floor 10 Tower capacity 30) and Cana Island. Includes use of galley/catering kitchen, outdoor deck, and Lighthouse Tower access. Personal photography sessions available at $125 (30 min) or $200 (2 hrs). Non-profit discount of 50% for Bridge Room.
8. Summer Camps: Tiered pricing summer camp programs (Tier A $240, Tier B $170, Tier C $90 subsidized) for underwater robotics, life at a lighthouse, and ocean exploration camps. Subsidized by Sarah Shinn Marshall Fund, Rotary International, and Sturgeon Bay Breakfast Rotary Club.
9. Business Partnership Sponsorships: Business partnership program with multiple tiers (Leader Sponsors, Patron Sponsors, Partner Sponsors, Associate Sponsors, Friends) offering recognition and benefits to business supporters of the museum.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels8 records

Marketing channels12 records

Core offering

Door County Maritime Museum preserves and interprets Great Lakes maritime history through three Door County, Wisconsin museum locations: the flagship museum and 118-foot Jim Kress Maritime Lighthouse Tower in Sturgeon Bay, the 1869 Cana Island Lighthouse in Baileys Harbor, and the Death's Door Maritime Museum in Ellison Bay/Gills Rock. Core offerings include admission-based exhibits and interactive experiences, docent-led tours of the 149-foot restored tugboat John Purves, museum store retail, summer camps and SeaPerch educational programs, seasonal festivals (Lighthouse Passport Days, Classic & Wooden Boat Show, Maritime Week, Festival of Trees), and event venue rentals with waterfront views.

Product overview

The Door County Maritime Museum operates a platform-plus-venues architecture consisting of three physical museum locations and multiple associated programs. The core product is the Door County Maritime Museum in Sturgeon Bay, featuring the 10-story Jim Kress Maritime Lighthouse Tower and interactive exhibits, complemented by the Cana Island Lighthouse in Baileys Harbor and the Death's Door Maritime Museum in Gills Rock. Associated programs include the restored tugboat John Purves, Working Waterfront Cruises, and the Schooner Utopia for water-based experiences. Educational offerings span SeaPerch underwater robotics, summer camps, Maritime Speaker Series, wooden boatbuilding classes, and SeaScouts. The museum also operates the Death's Door Mariner's Store at all locations and offers event space rentals. A digital guide is available through Bloomberg Connects. Key annual events include Lighthouse Passport Days, the Classic & Wooden Boat Show, Sturgeon Bay Maritime Week, and the Merry-Time Festival of Trees. The museum serves approximately 95,000 visitors annually across its three locations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Death's Door Mariner's Store: The museum store offering books, gifts, clothing, and accessories reflecting maritime history, available at all three DCMM locations
• Anchor Appeal
• Sponsor a Day

Products and services

• Door County Maritime Museum (Sturgeon Bay) Main museum admission experience featuring the Jim Kress Maritime Lighthouse Tower, interactive galleries, event spaces, and tugboat tours at the working Sturgeon Bay waterfront, open year-round to museum visitors, families, and tourists.
• Cana Island Lighthouse Seasonal lighthouse admission experience on Cana Island featuring the 89-foot 1869 light tower, keeper's quarters, and Death's Door Mariner's Store, accessible by hay-wagon ride over the causeway from May through October.
• Death's Door Maritime Museum Seasonal museum experience in Gills Rock celebrating Door County's commercial fishing tradition through shipwreck exhibits, wooden fishing tug Hope, Lake Michigan artifacts, and suggested donation admission May through October.
• Working Waterfront Cruises Narrated boat tours departing from Sturgeon Bay featuring historic bridges, shipwrecks, and lighthouse views with onboard slideshow storytelling for museum visitors and tourists.
• The Schooner Utopia Schooner sailing experience offered as part of the museum's boat tour offerings for tourists and visitors.
• Door Peninsula Lighthouse Passport Days Seasonal fundraising weekends (May, June, August, October) offering ticketed access to 11 historic Door County lighthouses, including boat tours, trolley tours, hiking tours, and exclusive access to normally closed lighthouses such as Chambers Island, Plum Island, and Sherwood Point.
• Sturgeon Bay Maritime Week Week-long August celebration of Sturgeon Bay's designation as the only U.S. Coast Guard City in Wisconsin, featuring Classic & Wooden Boat Show, Mariner Honors dinner, golf outing, concerts, and Coast Guard deck tours.
• Door County Classic & Wooden Boat Show 35th annual boat show featuring fiberglass boats of the Jet Age, Sikaflex Build-A-Boat Challenge, boat parade, boathouse sale, and U.S. Coast Guard demonstrations for boat enthusiasts and families.
• Merry-Time Festival of Trees Annual November–December holiday event featuring decorated trees, wreaths, displays by local businesses, raffle drawings, and the Jingle Mixer party for community supporters and visitors.
• Museum Membership Annual membership program offering free admission to all three DCMM locations, 10% museum store discount, exclusive pre-sale ticket access to Lighthouse Festivals, and other member benefits.
• Death's Door Mariner's Store Retail store at all three DCMM locations offering books, gifts, clothing, and accessories reflecting maritime history, lighthouses, and museum collections. Museum members receive a 10% discount.
• Event Space Rental Rental of museum spaces including Captain's Quarters (capacity 60+), Reddin Bridge Room (capacity 55+), and 10th floor Lighthouse Tower for weddings, meetings, board meetings, product launches, and life celebrations. Personal photography sessions $125 (30 min) or $200 (2 hrs). Non-profits receive 50% Bridge Room discount.
• Summer Camp Programs Summer camp sessions for youth including underwater robotics (intro and intermediate levels), Life at a Lighthouse Camp at Cana Island, and Ocean Explorers camp with three-tiered pricing (Tier A $240 full cost, Tier B $170 partially subsidized, Tier C $90 maximum subsidy), subsidized by Sarah Shinn Marshall Fund and Rotary International.
• SeaPerch Underwater Robotics Program Underwater robotics program teaching students to build Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) from kits, following a STEM curriculum with marine engineering theme. DCMM is the local sponsor for Door County, with local scrimmages, regional competition in Green Bay, and advancement to international competition.
• Maritime Speaker Series Monthly October through April speaker presentations by experts on historical topics and current issues affecting the Great Lakes, held on the first Thursday at the Sturgeon Bay museum and broadcast via Zoom. Presented in partnership with Door County Medical Center.
• Wooden Boatbuilding Class Annual traditional maritime craft program teaching wooden boatbuilding skills from October through May, with approximately 25 days of instruction and over 1,500 hours per vessel, culminating in a public viewing on Fridays and Saturdays and raffle of the completed boat. Classes have produced 29 boats since 1998.
• SeaScouts Unit Co-ed Sea Scout unit sponsored by DCMM for youth ages 14–21, promoting citizenship and boating skills through instruction in water safety, service experiences, and maritime heritage. Operates as a division of Scouting America in partnership with the Bay-Lakes Area Council.
• K-12 Educator Programs Educational outreach programs for school districts aligned with Wisconsin state curricular guidelines, including cardboard regatta and SeaPerch programs, online resources, and guided group visits for K-12 students.
• Group Tours Guided group tours for groups of 10+ with various themed tour options at all three museum locations, led by volunteer docents. Group rates available when booked a week in advance.
• Tug John Purves Guided Tours 40-minute all-access guided tours of the restored 149-foot 1919 tugboat John Purves at $10 per person (ages 4+), offered May through October at 10:30am, 11:45am, 1:15pm, and 2:30pm, plus combined museum and tug tour packages ($20 adults, $10 youth). Height and mobility restrictions apply.

Quantifiable outcome

• Averages 85,000–95,000 visitors annually
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, leader sponsor and partner sponsor.

• Bloomberg ConnectscoreTechnology or IntegrationDCMM's free digital guide is hosted on the Bloomberg Connects platform (by Bloomberg Philanthropies), the free arts and culture app featuring interactive maps of all three museum locations, expanded exhibit content, and audio/video content.
• PBS Wisconsin EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership featuring virtual tours of Pottawatomie Lighthouse and a 3D virtual tour of Cana Island lighthouse through PBS Wisconsin Education's programming. Includes companion content to the Wisconsin Lighthouses film as part of the 'The Look Back' series.
• Bay-Lakes Area Council Scouting DistrictcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDCMM sponsors a Sea Scout unit in Door County as part of Scouting America's Bay-Lakes Area Council. Also includes representatives from America's Boating Club, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, and Bay-Lakes Area Council Scouting District in the SeaScout program.
• Door County Medical Centerleader sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerLeader Sponsor of DCMM and presenting sponsor of the Maritime Speaker Series. One of three top-tier business partners.
• Marine Traveliftleader sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerLeader Sponsor of DCMM. One of three top-tier business partners.
• Roen Salvage Companyleader sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerLeader Sponsor of DCMM and provider of in-kind towing services for the tug John Purves restoration project.
• Fincantieri Bay Shipbuildingpartner sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner Sponsor of DCMM and host of the winter fleet layup viewing area adjacent to the museum.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Destination Door County: Destination Door County is the official Door County tourism organization and a financial partner of DCMM (Community Investment Fund grant supporting the John Purves restoration). Not a competitor but a complementary marketing and funding ecosystem participant driving visitor traffic to DCMM and other Door County attractions.

Direct peers

• Lake Champlain Maritime Museum: Vermont-based Lake Champlain Maritime Museum preserves the maritime history of an American inland waterway with a similar regional focus, educational programming, hands-on boatbuilding, and small-museum operating model to DCMM.
• Michigan Maritime Museum: Michigan Maritime Museum in South Haven, MI preserves Great Lakes maritime history with similar offerings including boat tours, a working boat-building school, lighthouse access, and educational programs. Closely comparable as a mid-size regional Great Lakes maritime museum with active programming.
• Wisconsin Maritime Museum: Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, WI operates a Great Lakes maritime museum with similar scale and focus on Wisconsin maritime heritage, including the WWII submarine USS Cobia. Both museums preserve Wisconsin's maritime history and serve overlapping regional audiences within driving distance.
• Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum: Located at Whitefish Point, MI, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum focuses on Great Lakes shipwrecks including the Edmund Fitzgerald. Comparable to DCMM in Great Lakes maritime heritage scope, mid-size museum scale, lighthouse setting, and educational mission in an adjacent Upper Midwest region.

Broad incumbents

• Maritime Museum of San Diego: Maritime Museum of San Diego preserves maritime history across multiple historic vessels and exhibits. Comparable as a multi-vessel, multi-experience maritime museum operator, but with significantly larger scale, larger collection footprint, and broader geographic audience.
• Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum: Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, MD preserves a regional waterway's maritime heritage. Comparable operating model with similar lighthouse, boat, and educational programming, but at a larger scale with a broader watershed focus analogous to DCMM's Great Lakes positioning.
• Mystic Seaport Museum: Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, CT is the largest maritime museum in the United States, preserving 19th-century maritime culture across a recreated village. Comparable as a maritime museum operator, but operates at much larger scale with broader collections and national audience reach.
• Maine Maritime Museum: Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, ME preserves Maine's shipbuilding and maritime heritage. Comparable regional maritime museum with similar educational, boatbuilding, and exhibit programs, but at larger scale with deeper shipbuilding-focused collections.

Regional players

• Door County Historical Society: Door County Historical Society is a regional heritage organization in the same Door County geography as DCMM. Shares the local preservation mission and overlapping donor base, though it focuses on broader land-based Door County history rather than maritime topics specifically.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/DCMaritime
• Facebookfacebook.com/dcmaritime
• Instagraminstagram.com/dcmaritime

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Door County Maritime Museum