Port Exploreum to shift from shipwrecks to breweries

There’s less than two weeks left to view the Port Exploreum’s shipwreck exhibit.

“Murmurs From the Deep,” which includes information about almost all of the known shipwrecks in Ozaukee County waters, is scheduled to close at the end of the day Monday, March 23.

The exhibit includes information on everything from the oldest known area shipwreck — the Niagara, which sank in 1856 — to the newest — the Linda E., the last commercial fishing tug based in Port Washington, which was run over and sunk while fishing in December 1998.

Many of the artifacts on display come from either the Port Washington or state historical societies, including a bell from the Niagara that partially melted when the steamer burned and sank and flatware engraved with the ship’s name to a polished brass decorative capstan from the Atlanta and a dead-eye from an unknown vessel.

The Exploreum will close until April 10, when two new exhibits will open.

The first floor of the Exploreum will be devoted to an exhibit on the brewing industry in Port Washington from the late 1800s to the present, while the second floor will host an exhibit of photos taken by the late Paul Wiening of the ships docking at Great Lakes ports from the 1950s to the early 1980s.