The Cayman Islands National Museum

The Old Courts Building on the George Town waterfront dates from the 1830s and has been, at various times, a courthouse, a jail, a post office, a church hall and a dance hall, which the museum makes a point of. It now holds the national collection: natural history in one gallery, cultural history in the other, covering the islands from geological formation through the wreck of the Ten Sail, the catboat and schooner era when Caymanian men crewed ships worldwide, turtling, thatch rope, and the transformation into a financial centre within a single lifetime. It is well done for its size and the building itself is part of the exhibit.

History

The Old Courts Building of the 1830s is the oldest building on the island, and the museum's collection began in the 1930s with the hobby of Ira Thompson, whose artefacts the government bought in 1979. After a new courthouse was built in the 1970s the old building served the Lands and Survey Department, it was bought in 1986 to house Thompson's collection, and the National Museum opened there in 1990 (Wikipedia, Cayman Islands National Museum).

Highlights

• The Old Courts Building - the oldest public building in George Town.
• The catboat and schooner era - when Caymanian men crewed ships worldwide.
• The turtling galleries - the trade the islands ran on for centuries.
• The natural history gallery - the islands' geology and species.

When to go

Year-round; closed Sundays and with reduced Saturday hours. Cruise days bring groups. Mornings are quietest. Two hours covers both galleries.

What to expect

It is small and two hours is generous. It closed for four years after Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and the collection reflects the size of the institution rather than the wealth of the country. Labels are informative but the displays are dated in parts. Entry is modest.

Nearby

Fort George and Elmslie church are on the same waterfront.

Key facts