---
kind: "section"
citation: "54 U.S.C. § 308705"
title: "54"
title_heading: "National Park Service and Related Programs"
number: "308705"
heading: "Designation of America’s National Maritime Museum"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/54/308705"
units:
  - "Subtitle III — National Preservation Programs"
  - "Division B — Organizations and Programs"
  - "Subdivision 1 — Administered by National Park Service"
  - "Chapter 3087 — National Maritime Heritage"
---

# §308705. Designation of America’s National Maritime Museum

- (a) **In General.—** America’s National Maritime Museum shall be composed of the museums designated by law to be museums of America’s National Maritime Museum on the basis that the museums—
  - (1) house a [collection](/usc/54/308901.md?p=1) of maritime artifacts clearly representing the Nation’s maritime heritage; and
  - (2) provide outreach [programs](/usc/54/308601.md?p=3) to educate the public about the Nation’s maritime heritage.
- (b) **Initial Designation.—** The following museums (meeting the criteria specified in [subsection (a)](#a)) are designated as museums of America’s National Maritime Museum:
  - (1) The Mariners’ Museum, located at 100 Museum Drive, Newport News, Virginia.
  - (2) The South Street Seaport Museum, located at 207 Front Street, New York, New York.
- (c) **Future Designation of Other Museums Not Precluded.—** The [designation](/usc/54/302501.md?p=1) of the museums referred to in [subsection (b)](#b) as museums of America’s National Maritime Museum does not preclude the [designation](/usc/54/302501.md?p=1) by law of any other museum that meets the criteria specified in [subsection (a)](#a) as a museum of America’s National Maritime Museum.
- (d) **Reference to Museums.—** Any reference in any law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United States to a museum designated by law to be a museum of America’s National Maritime Museum shall be deemed to be a reference to that museum as a museum of America’s National Maritime Museum.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 113–287, § 3, Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3242.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised<br>Section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 308705 | 16 U.S.C. 5409. | Pub. L. 105–261, div. A, title X, § 1068, Oct. 17, 1998, 112 Stat. 2135. |