The Antique Boat Museum is a museum on the St. Lawrence River, in Clayton, New York, USA, which displays the largest collection of antique and classic boats in North America. The museum hosts the United States' oldest Antique Boat Show & Auction each August. It is also the site for the biennial Antique Raceboat Regatta.
Museum Statement of Purpose: "To collect, preserve, study and interpret objects related to the fresh water nautical history of small craft (less than 100') of eastern North America, with emphasis on the St. Lawrence River and the surrounding area."
The Museum was founded in the 1960s, as the 1000 Islands Museum. Within the Museum, a group of people formed the "Antique Boat Auxiliary" and organized a show of antique boats in 1964. The boat show grew in size steadily. In the early 1970s, a group of supporters established a permanent museum to host the annual boat show. This Museum was eventually named "Antique Boat Museum". In the years since its founding, the Museum has expanded. The waterfront campus encompasses 4.5 acres (18,000 m2) of public programming space, 1,900 feet (580 m) of dockage and 1,300 feet (400 m) of St. Lawrence River shoreline. The Museum's expanding collection of artifacts have increased to make up a collection which includes 250 watercraft, 65 inboard engines, 138 outboard motors and approximately 3000 smaller artifacts, as of 2006.