It has a collection of more than 100,000 area artifacts that are selected and arranged in seasonal displays. There is also a small research gallery for people wanting to dig into their family roots. The museum is housed in half of a 19th-century sea captain's house that was once the home of Civil War Gen. Joshua Chamberlain. The other half of the house is being restored to the way it looked when Chamberlain lived there. For more information on this, see the Joshua Chamberlain Civil War Museum listing in the Historic Houses and Forts section.
Admission is free.
At this exhibit on the first floor of Hubbard Hall, you'll see artifacts, carvings, costumes, paintings, photographs and journals from the trip. Most striking about their journey is that the men traveled in true Arctic style, bringing along typical provisions of food and fuel, wearing Eskimo garb, riding on dog sleds and hunting whales and musk ox along the way. For more history on Peary, visit his house on Eagle Island. You'll find more information in the Islands category of the Greater Portland section of this chapter. To visit the museum, stop by from 10 AM to 5 PM Tuesday through Saturday or from 2 to 5 PM on Sunday.