{"id":215014,"date":"2026-06-09T22:41:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T22:41:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/215014\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T22:41:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T22:41:30","slug":"u-s-brig-niagara-underway-begins-2000-mile-journey-home-to-erie-for-july-4th-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/215014\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Brig Niagara underway, begins 2,000-Mile journey home to Erie for July 4th Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Niagara\"<\/a>The US Brig Niagara under sail during the Tall Ships Erie 2022 Parade of Sail, Aug. 25, 2022. Photo by Shani Bills, TalkErie.com.<\/p>\n

Following the completion of a year-long restoration and refit in Maine, the U.S. Brig Niagara is scheduled to return to the Erie Maritime Museum by July 2 as part of Pennsylvania\u2019s America 250 celebrations.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission\u00a0(PHMC) is pleased to announce that the U.S. Brig\u00a0Niagara\u00a0is officially underway. At daybreak on Saturday, June 6, the Commonwealth\u2019s flagship cast off her lines at Bristol Marine\u2019s Sample\u2019s Shipyard in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, marking the successful completion of her year-long, $6.9 million restoration and refit to ensure the Niagara is structurally sound and fit to sail for decades to come.<\/p>\n

The vessel is currently navigating the 2,000-nautical-mile transit via the North Atlantic Ocean and the St. Lawrence Seaway. She is scheduled to arrive at her homeport at the Erie Maritime Museum for a homecoming celebration July 2-5\u2014perfectly timing her historic return to kick off Erie\u2019s Independence Day weekend celebrations.<\/p>\n

Commanding the\u00a0Niagara\u00a0for her homecoming voyage is Interim Captain Richard Bailey. Captain Bailey brings over 45 years of elite tall ship command experience to the flagship. He is most widely recognized for his 16-year tenure as the Master of the\u00a0HMS Rose, which he helped convert into America\u2019s first Coast Guard-inspected Sailing School Vessel (SSV). Captain Bailey\u2019s highly specialized expertise makes him an ideal leader to safely manage the ship\u2019s return and operational handover upon her return to Erie.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe departure from Maine represents a monumental milestone in the preservation of the Commonwealth\u2019s flagship,\u201d said\u00a0Andrea Lowery, Executive Director of PHMC. \u201cWe thank the shipwrights and craftspeople at Bristol Marine for their work, and we are thrilled to have a mariner of Captain Bailey\u2019s caliber guiding her home.\u201d<\/p>\n

To maximize the shipyard timeline for critical repairs and systems updates, the\u00a0Niagara\u00a0is making the transit home under motor power. The substantial, multi-week process of assembling her sails and traditional rigging will take place dockside in Erie after the July 4 celebrations, allowing the community and visitors to witness the complex 19th-century up-rigging process firsthand.<\/p>\n

For tracking updates on the\u00a0Niagara\u2019s journey home and to learn details on the July 4th homecoming weekend, please visit\u00a0eriemaritimemuseum.org<\/a>\u00a0or follow the museum on\u00a0social media accounts on\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The US Brig Niagara under sail during the Tall Ships Erie 2022 Parade of Sail, Aug. 25, 2022.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77819,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,137],"class_list":["post-215014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}