The historic complex is an association of four local museums located within steps of each other. The most engaging is the Dory Shop Museum, right on the waterfront. On the first floor you can admire examples of the simple, elegant boatbuilding craft (said to be invented in Shelburne) and view videos about the late Sidney Mahaney, a master builder who worked in this shop from the time he was 17 until he was 96. Then head upstairs, where all the banging is going on. While you're there, ask about the difference between a Shelburne dory and a Lunenburg dory.
The Shelburne County Museum features a potpourri of locally significant artifacts from the town's Loyalist past. Most intriguing is the 1740 fire pumper; it was made in London and imported here in 1783. Behind the museum is the austerely handsome Ross-Thomson House, built in 1784 through 1785. The first floor contains a general store as it might have looked in 1784, with bolts of cloth and cast-iron teakettles. Upstairs is a militia room with displays of antique and reproduction weaponry. The fourth museum, the Muir-Cox Shipyard and its Interpretive Centre, was added most recently and features maritime displays of barks, sailboats, yachts, and more. If you're interested in these sorts of things, you could easily spend a half-day here, particularly if you're bringing children who are captivated by the craftspeople.
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