Marine Museum of the Great Lakes
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 Marine Museum of the Great Lakes, Kingston
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| Established | 1892 (as drydock) 1975 (as museum) |
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| Location | 55 Ontario Street, Kingston, Ontario. |
| Coordinates | 44°13′31″N 76°29′00″W / 44.225175°N 76.483378°W |
| Type | marine museum |
| Public transit access | 3, E6 |
| Website | www |
| Designated | 1978 |
The Marine Museum of the Great Lakes moved from the 1892 Kingston Dry Dock, a national historic site in Kingston, Ontario, when the federal government sold the property in 2016. The museum galleries are closed and the collections have been moved into storage until the museum finds a new property to reopen to the public. The Marine Museum office has moved to 53 Yonge St., Kingston, Ontario.
Once an important construction and repair facility for ships on the Great Lakes, the Kingston Dry Dock was constructed in 1890 by the Canadian federal government in what had been the local riding of Canadian prime minister Sir John A. Macdonald. Opened in 1892 by the Department of Public Works as a repair facility for lake vessels, the drydock provided dry working access to the ship below the waterline.
Sir John A. Macdonald laid the cornerstone for the Kingston Dry Dock in 1890.
MacDonald would live long enough to see the $344,276 project targeted with allegations of political patronage after the March 5, 1891 Canadian election. As he suffered a series of strokes in 1891, one of which proved fatal on June 6 of that year, he would never have the opportunity to see the facility open and in operation.
The original 85.3 metre limestone dry dock was lengthened to 115.2 metres using concrete and leased in 1910 to the Kingston Shipbuilding Company; private companies would operate the shipyards until 1968. During the Second World War naval vessels, notably corvettes, were built in this dry dock.
The site consists of a solid limestone 1891 main building which houses the drydock pumps and engines, an annex building added in 1915 and a smaller free-standing building added in 1938. The shipyard's distinctive square stone chimney stands 90 feet above the downtown city waterfront. As of 2014[update] the federal government still owns the drydock, buildings and wharf; it is looking to divest itself of the property, which could leave the museum without a home after 2015.
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