Entry No. 23 — the Cincinnati file — filed under: history
Cardboard Boat Museum
Housed inside a converted riverfront service station, this unique venue claims to be the world's only museum dedicated exclusively to racing vessels built entirely from cardboard, duct tape, and paint.
The story
In 1993, locals Shanna and Jim Morarity threw heavy industrial cardboard onto the New Richmond beach, bound it with tape, and launched into the Ohio River to see how far they could float. That beach dare grew into the annual International Cardboard Boat Regatta. The surviving vessels needed somewhere dry to winter, which is how a former riverfront service station on Front Street became a museum dedicated exclusively to cardboard racing craft. You won't find this kind of garage-built naval engineering anywhere else along the river.
Walk through the service station's converted garage doors and you'll find full-scale vessels made strictly from paperboard, duct tape, glue, and latex paint. The collection ranges from miniature river steamboats and dragon craft to a black Batmobile wired to blast the Batman theme song and a Model-T replica with working electrical components. Every August after the race, volunteers pull the fleet from the water, hose off the river mud on the concrete lot, dry them out, and stack them inside to join the permanent lineup.
What it's like
Stepping inside 311 Front Street feels like walking into an active auto garage hijacked by obsessive folk artists. You'll navigate concrete floors lined with full-sized cardboard hulls, detailed schematics, and regatta trophies while traffic rumbles past outside on Front Street. The volunteers staffing the space are often the builders themselves, ready to explain how layers of latex paint keep corrugated paper from disintegrating in 200 yards of river water. It's a quick, unpretentious stop—give yourself 30 to 45 minutes, bring cash for the donation bucket, and confirm their limited weekend hours before driving out to New Richmond.
The move: Stop in on a weekend afternoon to inspect floating steamboats, dragon craft, and Batmobiles created for the annual Ohio River Cardboard Boat Regatta.
- 📍 New Richmond
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 311 Front Street, New Richmond, OH 45157
Hours: Added 2026-07-21 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- The Cincinnati Mushroom House — Follow up an inspection of cardboard naval engineering with another masterclass in unconventional construction—Terry Brown's organic house built from bent wood and distorted shingles.
- Cincinnati Observatory — Trade river-level folk craft for stargazing atop Mount Lookout at the country's oldest continuously operating public observatory.
- HAIL - Records & Oddities — Keep the DIY spirit going across the river in Covington by pairing garage-built boats with a shop full of taxidermy, oddities, and punk vinyl.
- Haile Digital Planetarium — Swap hand-painted paperboard steamboats for digital star shows inside Northern Kentucky University's science center.
Good to know
Are the boats on display actual working watercraft?
Yes. Every boat in the building was constructed to compete in the Ohio River Cardboard Boat Regatta, where captains paddle them 200 yards off Front Street.
How much does admission cost?
Entry is free, though the non-profit museum relies on cash donations and merch sales to keep the doors open.
What building materials are allowed?
Regatta rules require boats to be built from corrugated cardboard, tape, cement, glue, and paint. Hulls reinforced with wood, metal, plastic, or fiberglass are disqualified.
What are the museum's operating hours?
Hours are limited to Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., plus Tuesday evenings from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Always double-check before making the trip.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · ohio.org · smithsonianmag.com · swohioparent.com
last checked: 2026-07-21