Mandarin Museum
Events held in the Mandarin Museum will resume in 2023 after the completion of the building expansion.
Dr. Keith Holland and several of his team of divers who recovered artifacts from the Civil War shipwreck, The Maple Leaf, will be present at Mandarin Museum on select dates to personally answer all of your questions about the shipwreck site, Duval County’s first National Historic Landmark.
Look for the red-and-white divers flag posted outside the museum, and you will know they are there. Come in to hear about the ship, the archaeological expedition, and the artifacts from the men who explored the dark waters of the St. Johns and touched every piece that was retrieved. See the beautiful model of the ship, view the actual diving suit of lead diver Lee Manley, and listen to Mr. Manley and Keith Holland talking to each other on a tape made during one of the earliest expeditions on the shipwreck site in the late 1980s.
Learn more by purchasing the book “Maple Leaf – An Extraordinary American Civil War Shipwreck,” the only book written about this ship, the dives, and the cultural material. It was out of print for 20 years, but Dr. Holland has allowed the Mandarin Museum to reprint it as a 150th-anniversary edition. Buy a copy and have it autographed by the very men you in the book. Special wooden magnets of the ship and notecards are also available in the museum gift shop.