On Saturday, September 25, 2010, the Custom House Maritime Museum will join participating museums and cultural institutions nationwide to open their doors free of charge to all visitors who download the Museum Day Ticket from Smithsonian.com. A journey to celebrate our world's dynamic heritage and cultural life, participating Museum Day venues emulate the free admission policy of the Smithsonian Institution's Washington, D.C.-based facilities.

Museum Day 2010 is poised to be the largest to date, outdoing last year's record-breaking event. Over 300,000 museum-goers and 1,300 venues in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico participated in Museum Day 2009. Last year, two million visitors logged on to www.smithsonian.com/museumday to learn more about the program.

"It is important for the Custom House to be part of the larger museum community," says Susan Tamulevich, director at the Custom House. "We present exhibitions of national significance, like the Jboats and Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer, and the Amistad exhibitions".

The Museum's mission is to preserve New London's U.S. Custom House and Harbor Light, and to promote and interpret the maritime history of the port of New London and the surrounding region through museum exhibitions and educational programs.

Toyota presents a "Featured Five," listing that encourages visitors to learn about and visit participating museums and venues. The Museum Day Ticket is available to download at www.smithsonian.com/museumday.