Maine's First Ship

Maine’s First Ship strives to use our reconstruction of the 1607 pinnace Virginia and our Heritage Center to immerse the public in an exploration of the region’s early history, craftsmanship, and relationships, and their impact on our community and environment today. Maine’s First Ship is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building and preserving a reconstruction of the Virginia, the first English ocean-going vessel built in North America. The original Virginia was built in 1607–08 by settlers at the short-lived Popham Colony, located at the mouth of the Kennebec River in present-day Maine. Though the colony lasted only about a year, the Virginia was a remarkable achievement—strong enough to cross the Atlantic at least twice and later sail to Jamestown, Virginia, and is a significant part of early American maritime history. Over 400 years later, a group of passionate volunteers set out to rebuild Virginia in Bath, Maine, a city with deep shipbuilding roots. Using traditional wooden boatbuilding techniques and historic tools, they worked slowly and carefully over the span of two decades to construct the new ship by hand. This labor of love took place in a riverside shipyard that welcomed the public to watch, learn, and even lend a hand. The project connected today’s communities to the craftsmanship and determination that helped shape Maine’s legacy. Now complete, the new Virginia is more than a reconstruction—it’s a floating classroom, a hands-on museum, and a symbol of community spirit. Maine’s First Ship offers museum exhibits, public events, school field trips, interpretive displays, and volunteer opportunities that celebrate the past while inspiring the future. Visitors are invited to step aboard, explore Maine’s shipbuilding history, and discover how one small ship helped launch a much bigger story—one that continues to sail forward today.

Maine’s First Ship strives to use our reconstruction of the 1607 pinnace Virginia and our Heritage Center to immerse the public in an exploration of the region’s early history, craftsmanship, and relationships, and their impact on our community and environment today.