Jean P. Haydon Museum

The Jean P. Haydon Museum occupies a building put up in 1917 as a naval commissary in the days when the territory was administered by the United States Navy, and it holds the territorial collection: tapa cloth, tools, canoe models, weapons, material on the naval period and displays on the Samoan matai system. It is small, and the building itself, a low white structure on the harbour front, is part of the interest. The collection also includes material from the Manu'a islands, which is otherwise hard to see without making the flight east.

What you actually see

• The 1917 building - the former naval commissary the museum occupies.
• The tapa cloth - the beaten bark textiles in the collection.
• The naval period material - the record of the years of navy administration.
• The cultural displays - the matai system and traditional practice.

When to go

Year round; the museum keeps weekday hours and closes at weekends. An hour covers the collection. It closes on public holidays.

Honest expectations

The museum is small and closes at weekends, which catches out visitors on short stays. Displays are dated. Hours are irregular.

Nearby

Fagatogo Market is beside it, and Utulei Beach is nearby.