The shipping industry was greatly important to Buffalo’s economy in earlier times, and the Lower Lakes Marine Historical Society’s mission is to pay tribute to, and increase awareness and appreciation of, that facet of local history. To that end, a wide variety of historic artifacts, old photographs, models, and interpretive materials relevant to the Great Lakes shipping trade are displayed in a warm and airy museum located in what was once the offices of Howard H. Baker and Company, a ship chandlery that served Buffalo Harbor in the 19th Century.