Marystown Model Ship Gallery

09/19/2026

There’s a long history between the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon and Newfoundland, both on a personal and on a business level .

Many a Newfoundlander married into a St. Pierre family over the years - and more than a few French girls made their lives over here. A lot of business was also carried on between ourselves and the people of St. Pierre and Miquelon….especially during prohibition 🙂

We’ve had quite a few visitors from the islands over the past few seasons, and some of them have brought over items for us to exhibit in the gallery. It seemed only right to make a post to acknowledge their contributions, so we grouped the artifacts, models and photos from St. Pierre and Miquelon into a new exhibit. The photos we took are attached to this post.
Drop by and see them in person!

09/14/2026

We have a variety of paintings in the gallery from local artists - landscapes, seascapes and the occasional still life.
We have work from Ray Mitchell, Lester Smith, and myself, and all are welcome to drop in and see them in person.
We are open 7 days a week till 5:00.

09/13/2026

We had a distinguished visitor come to the gallery on Friday, a man who saw a lot of Newfoundland’s fishing history - Mr. Maurice Kearley.
Mr. Kearley, who is 99, started his career as a teenager in the schooners. One of those he fished aboard was the L.A. Dunton, a famous Gloucester built schooner. She is now preserved in Mystic seaport as a museum ship.
He was able to view all the models, as well as some photos of the L.A. Dunton and the trawler Nathan Cummings that he’s been mate on.
As he stopped by our schooner models, I could only wonder at the lifetime of memories that must have been stirred up for him.
His visit wrapped up with a tour of the workshop in the back, where our own Art Walsh was fitting a set of sails on a schooner model. Mr. Kearley had a grand chat with Art and Harold, and judging by the grin he had, it was a great visit for him.

09/09/2026

Glass net floats. Once upon a time, you could find these on any beach in Newfoundland.
When I was a kid in Harbour Breton, there were lots of these around....green, brown, and clear. Once in a while there would be rarer colours, like purple and red.
Some were Newfoundland floats, others were likely drifted up from distant parts. The biggest one in our collection, the large green one, may possibly be Japanese. It was found on a beach in British Columbia a few months after the Fukushima earthquake by a Newfoundlander who brought it home.
Drop by and see them in person!

09/07/2026

The Marystown Model Ship Gallery is open today September 7th, drop by and take a trip back through our nautical history. A unique collection of 266 ships spanning hundreds of years.

Send a message to learn more

09/03/2026

Yesterday, Sept. 2nd, was an important date in history that few people remember. It was the date that World War 2 officially ended.

The signing of the surrender documents happened on board USS Missouri, at anchor in Tokyo Bay. Representatives of all the Allied nations signed, as did the Japanese delegation, with Colonel Lawrence Cosgrave representing Canada .

Here at the model ship gallery, we have a large, well detailed model of the USS Missouri. Using the historical photos of the surrender, you can easily spot the place where the signing table was placed on our model.

To this day, the real ship is anchored in Pearl Harbour as a museum ship. Set into her deck, in the spot where the table was set up, is a bronze plaque commemorating the surrender.

In an example of sad irony, while yesterday was the date of the ending of World War II, today, Sept. 3rd, is the anniversary of the start of the war.

Drop by the gallery and see Missouri and 264 others in person.

09/02/2026

A great group of visitors from Nancy's Tours, and the biggest group we've seen this season...52 people.
Nancy's group visited the gallery yesterday, and a good time was had by all. Lots of laughs, lots of questions, and plenty of photos taken.
It's always good to meet new people. Drop by the gallery and see it in person!

08/28/2026

We get quite a few photos given to us at times - sometimes these come with information, and sometimes we don't know anything about the subject.
These two photos were given to the gallery yesterday.
We don't know the location of the picture with the punts, though someone thought it might be in the Burin area.
The photo with the lady may be taken in the Creston North area. Any information on either photo would be appreciated.

08/21/2026

Many a Burin Peninsula man worked on tugs, either offshore off Newfoundland or up north in the Beaufort Sea or on the big rivers.
Here at the Model Ship Gallery, we have a wide variety of tugboat models on display.
We have a model of the “Inuit”, a coal powered tug used on the northern rivers, another model of the “Kelly Hall”, a shallow draft tug built for river work. Our “TID 153” represents a war built British tug - complete with a bulldog. On the larger side of things we have a lovely model of the “Maersk Norseman”, the largest ship built at the Marystown Shipyard.
Drop by the gallery and see them in person - we’re now open 7 days a week.

08/20/2026

Fishing at sea can be a dangerous business.
Fires, collisions, groundings and equipment failures can all turn an ordinary day into a fight for survival. There are some things a mariner can do to reduce those dangers….proper training and regular maintenance, for example.
Nevertheless, one thing is beyond a man's control - the weather.
Modern forecasting has certainly helped reduce the dangers of bad weather, but being at sea in the winter can still be a grim business. In the right conditions of cold weather and high winds, icing can be a deadly threat, and one that can build up quickly.
This is especially true for smaller vessels, like the side trawlers that were so common back in the 50’s and 60’s.
In our own area, winter ice build up caused the loss of three side trawlers - F/V Blue Wave in 1959, the St. Pierre trawler Ravenel in 1962, and the Blue Mist II in 1966.
To show how much ice can build up, here are some photos of the CCGS Ann Harvey, returning after a search and rescue mission. That much ice on a 4,600 ton ship is scary, but on a 350 ton trawler it would be deadly.
We also attached some photos of our model of the side trawler Blue Crest (a much appreciated donation from Mr. Gerry Ayre).
Respect to any one who makes their living on the sea.