The Lake Ponchartrain Basin Maritime Museum, located on the banks of the Tchefuncte River in Madisonville, Louisiana, takes you on a historic journey from the Native Americans who discovered the Northshore to present day.

The museum today sits on the site of the Jahncke Shipyard, which built 300 foot long wooden ships for the United States Navy during World War I. Its attractive, modern main building has over twelve thousand square feet of interior exhibit space plus a four thousand covered exterior area that houses the Museum's wooden boat building activities. The Museum also includes the Tchefuncte River Lighthouse Station (built in 1837) at the mouth of the river, the 1880s era lighthouse keeper's cottage, which has recently been moved to the Museum grounds for renovation and a modern concrete dock on the river.

The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum, Inc. is an IRS 501 C (3) non-profit organization. Our mission is to provide an education and research center to collect, interpret, and preserve the maritime and cultural history and artifacts of the Lower Mississippi River Basin for public benefit.