Warehouse Activities

This program introduces fourth and fifth graders to maritime activities from the mid-eighteenth century to the late nineteenth century in York. The activities take place at the John Hancock Warehouse by the York River.

How is the day’s visit scheduled?

Your group visit begins at the John Hancock Warehouse with a short introduction on York's maritime history. Interpreters use maps of the waterways to show the importance of the York River in our town's development.

For the rest of the program, your group should be divided into two smaller groups of no more than 12, as specified in your confirmation letter. The smaller groups will rotate among the following activities:

  • Listen to a sea captain or a sea captain's wife tell stories about adventures at sea.

  • Identify eigtheenth century imports and exports while rolling barrels in and out of the warehouse.

  • Learn about how people drew their livelihoods from the sea in the nineteenth century through objects from the museum collection and a scavenger hunt.

  • Discover the seamen's mystery of knot tying.

  • Design and carve scrimshaw to take home.

You should plan for your visit to last from one and a half to two hours.

Before Your Visit

  • Ask for chaperones to accompany the group. Ideally, there should be one chaperone for every five students.

  • Please have your class divided into their smaller groups before arriving. Check the confirmation form for how many groups you will need.

  • Have name tags for each student.

  • Try out some of the classroom activities described later on this page.

After Your Visit

After your visit, explore some of the classroom activities described below. Also, ask students for their impressions of the day and send them to us at Museums of Old York, P.O. Box 312, York, Maine 03909 or email us at education@oldyork.org. We love to hear from you.

Ox-Cart Man Curriculum

How can I make my class' visit to Old York a part of my curriculum? A description of all of our programs and the learning standards met by each can be downloaded here. Programs are alligned with learning standards from Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. In addition, Old York has compiled the following list of activities that teachers tell us that they use in their classrooms to augment their visit to Old York. Many of these activities bridge across disciplines and provide wonderful opportunities for inter-disciplinary learning.

Links to Social Studies

  • Draw a chronology of York's maritime history. Have students research York's architecture. See how York's economy and maritime history are reflected in its buildings.

  • Examine York's map from the 1650s and discuss the role waterways play in defining the layout of a town.

  • Locate important sites such as mills, ferries and warehouses on the banks of the York River or another river close to your community.

  • Research Maine's major exports and imports in the late 18th century. On a map of the world, locate countries to which Maine ships traveled and exported or imported goods.

Links to Language Arts

  • Have students imagine that they are sailors on a ship going to the West Indies in the late eighteenth century. What is their daily routine? What activities would they engage in? Have students write letters to their parents describing life at sea.