WELCOME TO THE HAVRE DE GRACE DECOY MUSEUM
Located on the banks of the historic Susquehanna Flats, the Havre de Grace Decoy Museum houses one of the finest collections of working and decorative Chesapeake Bay decoys ever assembled. The museum was established in 1986 as a private, non-profit institution existing to preserve the historical and cultural legacy of waterfowling and decoy making on the Chesapeake Bay.
Decoys have been a central element of Chesapeake culture for centuries. In the beginning, they were made for one purpose — to lure waterfowl within range of the hunter’s shotgun. Decoys were simple, utilitarian representations of ducks and geese rough-hewn from wood. No one considered them art. Today, decoys lure far more people than waterfowl. One is perhaps more likely to find a decoy adorning a collector’s mantelpiece than floating in a hunter’s rig. Contemporary carvers produce sophisticated works of art with century-old skills that have been passed down from master to apprentice for generations.
We invite you to visit the Decoy Museum to discover the art of decoy making and the waterfowling traditions that truly make Havre de Grace the “Decoy Capital of the World!”
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🦆🎨 44th Annual Decoy & Wildlife Art Festival 🎨🦆
🏨 HOTEL PARTNERSHIP FOR THE FESTIVAL WEEKEND
🛍️ Shop the Store Wednesdays! 🛍️
🦆 44 Years of Chesapeake Tradition
All under one roof!
📣 Save the Date!
Sunday with Sullivan - Welcome to our first Sunday with Sullivan — we hope this will become a monthly online tradition where historian C. John Sullivan Jr. shares fascinating pieces of our waterfowling heritage.
Join the Havre de Grace Decoy Museum for a weekend celebrating carving, wildlife art, and Chesapeake Bay heritage!
🌊 The Susquehanna Flats Marine Exhibition (held in conjunction with the festival) is FREE admission and open the same hours!
📍 STAR Centre, 700 Congress Ave, Havre de Grace 21078
🗓 Saturday, May 2, 2026 | 9 AM – 5 PM
🗓 Sunday, May 3, 2026 | 9 AM – 3 PM
🎖 Honorary Chairman: Chad Tragakis
🎟 Festival Admission: $10
Enjoy:
• Antique & contemporary decoys
• Wildlife art
• Carving competitions
• Marine dealers & service providers
• Boat sales & trailers
• Marine electronics & safety equipment
• Food & beverages available both days
🌐 Details & competition rules: www.decoymuseum.com
📞 410-939-3739
📧 information@decoymuseum.com
📍 215 Giles Street, Havre de Grace, MD 21078
Come spend a day by the Bay — and consider staying the weekend in Harford County!
#DecoyFestival #HdGDecoyMuseum #WildlifeArt #ChesapeakeBay #HavreDeGrace
🛏 Make It a Weekend Getaway!
We’ve partnered with the Hilton Garden Inn Aberdeen for a special Hilton Honors Rate.
🛎 10 rooms currently available
📌 Book using: Decoy Art Festival Room Block
Enjoy the festival, explore Havre de Grace, and make it a full Harford County experience!
Discover treasures from The Ted and Judy Harmon Collection at the Havre de Grace Decoy Museum! 🦆
For over six decades, the Harmons have passionately collected the finest Massachusetts decoys — and now you can bring a piece of that history home.
💰 Only $26 — includes tax and shipping!
Shop now and add a touch of Chesapeake Bay folk art to your collection.
#DecoyMuseum #ShopTheStore #TedAndJudyHarmon #MassachusettsDecoys #FolkArt #HavreDeGrace
For more than four decades, the Decoy & Wildlife Art Festival has celebrated decoy carving and wildlife art as a distinctive form of American folk art.
Proudly sponsored by the Havre de Grace Decoy Museum.
Be part of the tradition.
44th Annual Decoy & Wildlife Art Festival
📅 May 2–3, 2026
📍 STAR Centre
700 Congress Ave, Havre de Grace
🕘 Saturday, May 2: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
🕘 Sunday, May 3: 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM
🏛 Sponsored by the Havre de Grace Decoy Museum
🎖 Honorary Chairman: Chad Tragakis
#DecoyFestival #WildlifeArt #DecoyCarving #ChesapeakeHeritage #HavreDeGraceMD #AmericanFolkArt #MuseumSupport
The Decoy & Wildlife Art Festival will be held at the STAR Centre, located in the heart of Havre de Grace.
Easy access, spacious layout, and room to explore incredible art and craftsmanship.
📅 May 2–3, 2026
🕘 Sat 9–5 | Sun 9–3
#DecoyFestival #WildlifeArt #HavreDeGrace #MarylandEvents
The 44th Annual Decoy & Wildlife Art Festival returns to Havre de Grace May 2–3, 2026!
🦆 Decoys & wildlife art
🎨 Master carvers & artists
👨👩👧 Family-friendly tradition
📍 STAR Centre, 700 Congress Ave
🕘 Sat 9–5 | Sun 9–3
Mark your calendar and plan to join us!
#DecoyFestival #WildlifeArt #HavreDeGrace #MarylandEvents
This week, John takes us back to the origins of the first decoys.
The first decoys made in North America were created by the indigenous people. Early accounts describe lumps of mud placed along shorelines to lure migratory fowl. In 1924, an amazing discovery of a group of decoys created by Native Americans was made. The decoys were constructed using tule reed formed into the shape of a duck and then covered with feathers from a harvested bird. Carbon dating has determined that these historic artifacts are 2,000 years old. Just 10 years after this discovery, Joel Barber asked the question “Who made the first decoy?” He was of course referring to the carved wooden likenesses of the migratory fowl. This question appeared in his book Wild Fowl Decoys. He related a tale that attributed the first “wooden stool,” as the colonists called wildfowl decoys, in New York to an old man who came down from Massachusetts before the Revolutionary War. Barber concluded that, at least according to legend, the first decoy of American duck shooting came into existence before the Revolution. Certainly, duck decoys were known in Massachusetts before 1776. David McCullough relates, in his wonderful biography John Adams, that on September 3, 1776, when General John Sullivan of the Continental Army appeared before the Continental Congress to deliver the British request for an accommodation – clearly something less than independence – John Adams was so incensed that he took the floor and called Sullivan “a decoy duck sent to seduce Congress into renunciation of independence.” Adams was a native of coastal Massachusetts and an avid hunter of waterfowl as a youth. This is certainly consistent with Barber’s legend.
