Gig Harbor Museum

Gig Harbor Museum Review

The Gig Harbor Museum has an excellent collection of exhibits describing the city's maritime history, as well as photo archives, video programs, and a research library focusing on the area's pioneer and Native American ancestors. The facilities include a one-room, early-20th-century schoolhouse and a 65-foot, 1950s purse seiner, a type of fishing vessel from the community's famous seafaring fleets. News clippings and videos about "Galloping Gertie," the original bridge, are particularly eerie. The staff also stages major historic activities for the area, including a four-hour history cruise each summer ($60) and twice-yearly Harbor Heritage kayak outings from the city docks to locales around Puget Sound ($25 per person).