Capt. Edward L. Greenwood Maritime Collection

A Virginian-Pilot staff writer wrote "the smell of the sea came through the open doors of the two-story white frame building. Once a Coast Guard station, it is now a nautical museum. A miniature set of dominoes carved from whalebone by 18th century seamen, a ship's log yellowed by 170 years, and brass flare guns from both world wars were ensconced in glass display cases with other maritime-related pieces." This article written by Cynthia Kirkwood,was published in 1982 about the opening of the Maritime Historical Museum located on the oceanfront, Virginia Beach, Virginia. One of the museum's founders who became its first President of the Board of Directors, Captain Edward L. Greenwood, is the sixth master mariner in six generations of the Greenwoods of England. Capt. Greenwood, retired as a merchant marine captain in 1957 after spending 17 years plying the sealanes. The Maritime Historical Museum opened its doors for the first time on July 1, 1981 and housed numerous maritime items on loan from Greenwood that represented about two-thirds of his total collection.

Greenwood collected nautical nautical artifacts for about 20 years. Some of them were handed down from his seagoing forefathers."The first thing that he received was a book his grandfather used in the mid-1800s to study for his master's license. The Greenwoods came to Virginia from England aboard the sailing vessel "Constance" in 1649. They settled in Richmond. Later, one of them moved to Barbados and another went to sea, starting the seagoing tradition of the Greenwoods.

The Greenwood Maritime Collection are items that were owned by Edward L. Greenwood and displayed for years at the Virginia Beach Maritime Historical Museum. These are now available for purchase here at Skipjack Nautical Wares & Marine Art Gallery, Round Pond, Maine

Check back often over the coming weeks as we continue to add items from the over 200 piece collection.