After a positive conditions assessment support by the Heritage Fund, the historic Skipjack Wilma Lee was transported from North Carolina to it’s new — and rightful — home back in Maryland at the Annapolis Maritime Museum.
On Tuesday, June 19, 2018, the Wilma Lee arrived at the Annapolis Maritime Museum from North Carolina with great fanfare. The Annapolis Maritime Museum will now use the skipjack for education and interpretation about the history and ecology of the Chesapeake Bay. Before completing the purchase and relocation, the Annapolis Maritime Museum utilized a Heritage Fund grant for a complete inspection to access the historic ship’s condition and safety.
The Skipjack Wilma Lee is documented in the Maryland Inventory of Historic Places. Wilma Lee is a 46 foot long two-sail V-bottomed skipjack that was built in 1940 in Wingate, Maryland. The boat is significant as being one of the 35 surviving traditional Chesapeake Bay skipjacks and a member of the last commercial sailing fleet in the United States. Wilma Lee is of special interest as being one of only two of the surviving skipjacks to have been built between the two World Wars.
The Heritage Fund is a cooperative effort of Preservation Maryland and the Maryland Historical Trust to provide direct assistance for the protection of historical and cultural resources and promotes innovative demonstration projects that can be successfully replicated to meet Maryland’s historic preservation needs. The Heritage Fund is intended to serve the needs of tangible cultural resources in Maryland. Historic sites, buildings, districts, objects, and archaeological resources are all eligible for funding.